Physical Needs

Human life depends on recurring physical conditions that must be maintained over time. Food, water, sleep, recovery, thermal protection and other basic biological requirements are not optional features of life; they are conditions on which continued functionin

HUMAN CAPACITY

Physical Needs

Physical functioning depends on recurring requirements such as nutrition, physical activity and other health-maintaining routines.

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The Physical Needs domain concerns recurrent bodily requirements whose absence can alter survival, maintenance and development. The scientific difficulty is that the requirement is universal while the way it is met is not. Food can be grown, purchased, prepared by someone else or institutionally provided. Movement can arise through work, transport, sport, play or deliberate exercise. A useful framework therefore has to identify the underlying function without turning one cultural implementation into a universal obligation.

Evidence & scientific lineage

World Health Organization. Healthy ageing and functional ability. Functional ability is described through intrinsic capacity, environmental characteristics and their interaction. WHO ability

World Health Organization. Social determinants of health. Conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including access to power, money and resources. WHO — Social determinants of health