What does "healthy" mean to you? 5 Why's
When talking to a 2nd year grad student in my program, he brought up a good point. I told him my project was focused on helping my sister be more "healthy." He asked "well, what does healthy even mean to her?" and I couldn't really answer that. It could be a final goal of losing 10lbs or it could be a whole lifestyle thing, I wasn't sure. So I set out to better define what healthy even means to her, and to understand why she wanted to be whatever definition of healthy she had for herself.
The "5 Why's" activity is one of my favorites because, although potentially very annoying, it gets you to a deeper insight that may not be considered when answering a question initially. If you keep exploring with someone why they believe a certain something or feel a certain way about something, and you keep asking them "why" you often get an answer, after a few "why's," that provides you with a deeper understanding of a person's priorities. Below is the 5 Why's conversation I had with my sister (via text messages):
So, tell me, what does being healthy mean to you?
"Fruits, vegetables, low calories, low fat intake. It's a daily thing, like just because I lose 5lbs doesn't mean I'm healthy. Maintaining a balanced diet that's more vegan / vegetarian. Drinking water and working out regularly."
why more vegan / vegetarian?
"It’s the healthiest option and still gives me all the nutrients I need."
why?
"Because it’s not processed so it has organic nutrients."
why?
"Because that would be bad for my body."
why?
"well, eventually your body will break down from all the crap"
why?
"you're driving me insane with these questions. because I don't want to have cancer or heart disease or be overweight / obese. I don't want to have to take 298 different medications, I don't want to be in the hospital. Like, I do not want to be a happy 60 year old then BOOM. I have cancer or diabetes, etc."
So the insight began with "I want a healthier lifestyle because it's good for the body" and soon, with enough questioning and prodding, we got to the source of why she feels it's important to keep a healthy lifestyle: because she does not want to pay for it later in having cancer or diabetes or some other disease that could have been avoided by healthier eating now.