Proposal for a new definition of health: an anthropological reappraisal based on a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The definition of health proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 ("a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity") remains influential but increasingly criticized for its idealistic, static, and potentially unattainable nature. Contemporary societies are confronted with aging populations, chronic diseases, environmental disruptions, psychosocial stress, and changing perceptions of normality and pathology. This study aimed to explore current perceptions of disease and health among French-speaking respondents in order to propose an updated conceptualization of health. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross-sectional anonymous online survey was conducted among 140 adult participants. The questionnaire explored agreement with the WHO definition of disease and health, perceptions of aging, social and environmental determinants of illness, therapeutic efficacy, and the social significance of various disease categories. Responses were analyzed descriptively and interpreted within a medical anthropological framework. RESULTS: Although most respondents (82.9%) declared themselves globally favorable to the WHO definition, 17.1% considered it incomplete or inaccurate. Participants widely recognized multifactorial causes of illness, especially stress, mental state, work conditions, aging, nutrition, and environmental imbalance. Diseases were not perceived solely as biological events but also as social, psychological, ecological, and relational phenomena. A substantial proportion of respondents acknowledged that illness may temporarily liberate individuals from sociocultural norms and obligations. Aging itself was ambiguously perceived, oscillating between natural process and pathological condition. Respondents strongly endorsed holistic approaches integrating environmental, psychological, physical, and social rebalancing. CONCLUSION: Health can no longer be reduced to an idealized state of complete well-being nor to the simple absence of disease. Based on these findings, we propose redefining health as follows: "Health is the dynamic capacity of an individual or a community to maintain, restore, or negotiate biological, psychological, social, cultural, and environmental equilibrium throughout life, despite internal vulnerabilities and external constraints."