NCERT Textbook: Social Health | Health and Physical Education for Class 9 PDF Download

 Page 1


13.1 IntroductIon We have discussed health in previous chapters. By now you 
must have realised that health does not only mean freedom 
from diseases. It is much more. Health is the state of physical, 
mental and social well-being. It should be viewed in a holistic 
way.  An individual may be physically and mentally healthy, 
but if her/his social condition is problematic, she/he cannot 
achieve holistic health. In the present chapter, we shall focus 
on various aspects of social health.
13.2 What Is s ocIal h ealth ?
Let us first understand the meaning of social health. We know 
that social health is one of the three major components of 
health, the other two being physical and mental. Social health 
can be defined in two ways.  In one sense, it refers to the 
health of a person with reference to her/his ability to interact 
with others. It also refers to the health of a society in general. 
It focuses on how the members of a society treat each other 
and behave with each other. What kind of social environment 
prevails and how the prevailing customs and traditions guide 
the behaviour of individuals towards self, each other and 
towards the society as a whole also form social health. Social 
Health also includes how individual’s natural environment 
around them is. The role of the community as a whole acquires 
great importance for enhancing and maintaining the quality of 
the health of individuals. Although there are many dimensions 
of social health, we shall discuss below the impact of social 
customs on our health, the need to protect natural resources 
and the empowerment of community for healthy living.
13.3 Impact of s ocIal c ustoms 
Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all 
aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and 
welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care 
for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear 
ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions. 
Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.
13.3.1 What is a Custom?
Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed 
in the past and transmitted through time from one generation 
Social Health
13
a ctIvIty 13.1
Make a list of 
customs having a 
positive and negative 
impact on the health 
of individual and 
society prevailing in 
your neighbourhood. 
Share with your 
classmates their 
implications on 
health?
Page 2


13.1 IntroductIon We have discussed health in previous chapters. By now you 
must have realised that health does not only mean freedom 
from diseases. It is much more. Health is the state of physical, 
mental and social well-being. It should be viewed in a holistic 
way.  An individual may be physically and mentally healthy, 
but if her/his social condition is problematic, she/he cannot 
achieve holistic health. In the present chapter, we shall focus 
on various aspects of social health.
13.2 What Is s ocIal h ealth ?
Let us first understand the meaning of social health. We know 
that social health is one of the three major components of 
health, the other two being physical and mental. Social health 
can be defined in two ways.  In one sense, it refers to the 
health of a person with reference to her/his ability to interact 
with others. It also refers to the health of a society in general. 
It focuses on how the members of a society treat each other 
and behave with each other. What kind of social environment 
prevails and how the prevailing customs and traditions guide 
the behaviour of individuals towards self, each other and 
towards the society as a whole also form social health. Social 
Health also includes how individual’s natural environment 
around them is. The role of the community as a whole acquires 
great importance for enhancing and maintaining the quality of 
the health of individuals. Although there are many dimensions 
of social health, we shall discuss below the impact of social 
customs on our health, the need to protect natural resources 
and the empowerment of community for healthy living.
13.3 Impact of s ocIal c ustoms 
Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all 
aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and 
welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care 
for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear 
ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions. 
Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.
13.3.1 What is a Custom?
Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed 
in the past and transmitted through time from one generation 
Social Health
13
a ctIvIty 13.1
Make a list of 
customs having a 
positive and negative 
impact on the health 
of individual and 
society prevailing in 
your neighbourhood. 
Share with your 
classmates their 
implications on 
health?
 Health and Physical Education — Class IX
to the next. These are derived from social norms which are 
rules or standards that guide, control or regulate proper and 
acceptable behaviour of a group. These norms define the shared 
expectations of a group and enable people to anticipate how 
others will interpret and respond to their words and actions 
if there is a deviation from these norms. For example, there 
are customs and traditions related to marriage ceremonies. 
These are observed by not only those who are getting married 
but also by the other members of the family and community. 
Many of the customs have positive impact on the relationships 
in a family and community. However, many of the customs 
have negative impact as well. For example, there are customs 
prevalent in many communities, like early marriage or 
discriminating against female child, or choice of spouse, which 
adversely affect the health and well-being not only of the female 
child but of the society as a whole.   
13.3.2 Customs and Health 
In every society, the individuals, 
families and communities observe 
many customs that have direct 
bearing on health. From the 
moment of birth of a child, customs 
begin to shape experiences and 
behaviour of the child. In reality, 
by the time children can think 
independently, the health-related 
customs of the family have already 
become an intimate part of their 
personalities. They do not question 
these customs, as they are deeply 
held and protected by the society. 
It becomes extremely difficult to 
change them. Let us understand 
this by considering what happened 
to Seema.
The experiences of Seema 
shows the negative impact of social 
customs on health. 
Let us consider the influence 
of customs on the thinking and 
behaviour of individuals in respect 
of early marriage, breastfeeding 
practices, family size, preference for 
male child and substance abuse. All 
these affect family and community 
health.  
a ctIvIty 13.2
Seema studies in Class IX in a small town. She 
has two elder brothers.  Both the brothers get a 
lot of attention from the parents.  Parents believe 
that both their sons should get larger portion 
of milk, cheese and eggs. They tell Seema that 
her brothers need to be strong as they will grow 
up to head their families in future.  On the 
other hand, parents tell Seema that she should 
eat less, otherwise she will look too grown up 
and big for her age.  One day, while in class, 
Seema told her teacher that she was feeling 
dizzy.  Before the teacher could do anything, 
she fainted. The teacher took her to a nearby 
hospital and then went home with her. The 
teacher told Seema’s parents that the doctor 
had said that it was because of anaemia that 
she had fainted and that it was very important 
to ensure that Seema gets good nutrition to 
remain healthy. 
Think
1. Do you think the reasons given by 
Seema’s parents for ensuring that their 
sons get good nutrition while neglecting 
Seema’s nutritional needs are justified? 
Give reasons.
2. What are the customs related to diet for 
girls in your family and community?
Page 3


13.1 IntroductIon We have discussed health in previous chapters. By now you 
must have realised that health does not only mean freedom 
from diseases. It is much more. Health is the state of physical, 
mental and social well-being. It should be viewed in a holistic 
way.  An individual may be physically and mentally healthy, 
but if her/his social condition is problematic, she/he cannot 
achieve holistic health. In the present chapter, we shall focus 
on various aspects of social health.
13.2 What Is s ocIal h ealth ?
Let us first understand the meaning of social health. We know 
that social health is one of the three major components of 
health, the other two being physical and mental. Social health 
can be defined in two ways.  In one sense, it refers to the 
health of a person with reference to her/his ability to interact 
with others. It also refers to the health of a society in general. 
It focuses on how the members of a society treat each other 
and behave with each other. What kind of social environment 
prevails and how the prevailing customs and traditions guide 
the behaviour of individuals towards self, each other and 
towards the society as a whole also form social health. Social 
Health also includes how individual’s natural environment 
around them is. The role of the community as a whole acquires 
great importance for enhancing and maintaining the quality of 
the health of individuals. Although there are many dimensions 
of social health, we shall discuss below the impact of social 
customs on our health, the need to protect natural resources 
and the empowerment of community for healthy living.
13.3 Impact of s ocIal c ustoms 
Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all 
aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and 
welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care 
for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear 
ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions. 
Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.
13.3.1 What is a Custom?
Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed 
in the past and transmitted through time from one generation 
Social Health
13
a ctIvIty 13.1
Make a list of 
customs having a 
positive and negative 
impact on the health 
of individual and 
society prevailing in 
your neighbourhood. 
Share with your 
classmates their 
implications on 
health?
 Health and Physical Education — Class IX
to the next. These are derived from social norms which are 
rules or standards that guide, control or regulate proper and 
acceptable behaviour of a group. These norms define the shared 
expectations of a group and enable people to anticipate how 
others will interpret and respond to their words and actions 
if there is a deviation from these norms. For example, there 
are customs and traditions related to marriage ceremonies. 
These are observed by not only those who are getting married 
but also by the other members of the family and community. 
Many of the customs have positive impact on the relationships 
in a family and community. However, many of the customs 
have negative impact as well. For example, there are customs 
prevalent in many communities, like early marriage or 
discriminating against female child, or choice of spouse, which 
adversely affect the health and well-being not only of the female 
child but of the society as a whole.   
13.3.2 Customs and Health 
In every society, the individuals, 
families and communities observe 
many customs that have direct 
bearing on health. From the 
moment of birth of a child, customs 
begin to shape experiences and 
behaviour of the child. In reality, 
by the time children can think 
independently, the health-related 
customs of the family have already 
become an intimate part of their 
personalities. They do not question 
these customs, as they are deeply 
held and protected by the society. 
It becomes extremely difficult to 
change them. Let us understand 
this by considering what happened 
to Seema.
The experiences of Seema 
shows the negative impact of social 
customs on health. 
Let us consider the influence 
of customs on the thinking and 
behaviour of individuals in respect 
of early marriage, breastfeeding 
practices, family size, preference for 
male child and substance abuse. All 
these affect family and community 
health.  
a ctIvIty 13.2
Seema studies in Class IX in a small town. She 
has two elder brothers.  Both the brothers get a 
lot of attention from the parents.  Parents believe 
that both their sons should get larger portion 
of milk, cheese and eggs. They tell Seema that 
her brothers need to be strong as they will grow 
up to head their families in future.  On the 
other hand, parents tell Seema that she should 
eat less, otherwise she will look too grown up 
and big for her age.  One day, while in class, 
Seema told her teacher that she was feeling 
dizzy.  Before the teacher could do anything, 
she fainted. The teacher took her to a nearby 
hospital and then went home with her. The 
teacher told Seema’s parents that the doctor 
had said that it was because of anaemia that 
she had fainted and that it was very important 
to ensure that Seema gets good nutrition to 
remain healthy. 
Think
1. Do you think the reasons given by 
Seema’s parents for ensuring that their 
sons get good nutrition while neglecting 
Seema’s nutritional needs are justified? 
Give reasons.
2. What are the customs related to diet for 
girls in your family and community?
Social Health 
Early Marriage 
Although efforts have been made since long to ensure that 
marriages take place at proper age, the problem of early 
marriage and even child marriage is still continuing in many 
communities in India. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 
stipulates legal age of marriage as 18 for girls and 21 for boys, 
but social customs encourage early marriage even now. You may 
have heard the word kanyadan. Influenced by 
prevailing customs, many parents consider 
it good to marry their daughters even before 
she attains puberty. The tradition of dowry is 
another factor for early marriage in India.  It is 
believed that dowry will be lower if the bride is 
younger in age.  
The early marriage custom puts pressure 
on young married women to prove their 
fertility resulting in high rates of adolescent 
pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy leads to 
greater health risks for the teenage mother 
and her child. Biologically, she is yet to attain 
reproductive maturity. There are chances of 
prolonged labour that can result in severe 
damage to the reproductive tract. The available 
evidence suggests that maternal deaths 
are considerably higher among adolescent 
mothers than among mature mothers. The 
babies born to adolescent mothers generally 
have low birth-weight. Such babies are more 
likely to die at birth or in infancy. Early 
pregnancy increases the risk of maternal 
and child morbidity and mortality. Early 
pregnancy also has serious psychological, 
social and economic consequences. 
It continues to affect adversely the 
educational, economic and social 
status of women and is likely to 
have negative impact on the quality 
of life of the family. 
In many cases, young girls are 
married to older men. Such girls 
do not have the courage to take 
decisions related to family needs, 
lack power and are more likely 
to experience partner violence.  
National Family Health Survey 
(NFHS-3, 2005, 2006) reveals that 
27 per cent young women and   
Fig. 13.1 : Child Marriage is Illegal
This poster has been designed by Shivani Sharma from 
Class X, KP ISP Nasik, Maharasthra
a ctIvIty 13.3
Read the case study given below and reflect 
on the question.
I am Munni. I was born in a very poor family. I 
am 17 years old now and have two children of age 
5 and 3. My parents never thought of educating  
me. They thought that education is not meant for  
girls and more so for poor people.
Questions for reflection
1. Why was Munni married so early?
2. How early marriage impacted Munni?
3. If you were in Munni’s place what would 
you have done?
Page 4


13.1 IntroductIon We have discussed health in previous chapters. By now you 
must have realised that health does not only mean freedom 
from diseases. It is much more. Health is the state of physical, 
mental and social well-being. It should be viewed in a holistic 
way.  An individual may be physically and mentally healthy, 
but if her/his social condition is problematic, she/he cannot 
achieve holistic health. In the present chapter, we shall focus 
on various aspects of social health.
13.2 What Is s ocIal h ealth ?
Let us first understand the meaning of social health. We know 
that social health is one of the three major components of 
health, the other two being physical and mental. Social health 
can be defined in two ways.  In one sense, it refers to the 
health of a person with reference to her/his ability to interact 
with others. It also refers to the health of a society in general. 
It focuses on how the members of a society treat each other 
and behave with each other. What kind of social environment 
prevails and how the prevailing customs and traditions guide 
the behaviour of individuals towards self, each other and 
towards the society as a whole also form social health. Social 
Health also includes how individual’s natural environment 
around them is. The role of the community as a whole acquires 
great importance for enhancing and maintaining the quality of 
the health of individuals. Although there are many dimensions 
of social health, we shall discuss below the impact of social 
customs on our health, the need to protect natural resources 
and the empowerment of community for healthy living.
13.3 Impact of s ocIal c ustoms 
Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all 
aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and 
welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care 
for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear 
ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions. 
Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.
13.3.1 What is a Custom?
Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed 
in the past and transmitted through time from one generation 
Social Health
13
a ctIvIty 13.1
Make a list of 
customs having a 
positive and negative 
impact on the health 
of individual and 
society prevailing in 
your neighbourhood. 
Share with your 
classmates their 
implications on 
health?
 Health and Physical Education — Class IX
to the next. These are derived from social norms which are 
rules or standards that guide, control or regulate proper and 
acceptable behaviour of a group. These norms define the shared 
expectations of a group and enable people to anticipate how 
others will interpret and respond to their words and actions 
if there is a deviation from these norms. For example, there 
are customs and traditions related to marriage ceremonies. 
These are observed by not only those who are getting married 
but also by the other members of the family and community. 
Many of the customs have positive impact on the relationships 
in a family and community. However, many of the customs 
have negative impact as well. For example, there are customs 
prevalent in many communities, like early marriage or 
discriminating against female child, or choice of spouse, which 
adversely affect the health and well-being not only of the female 
child but of the society as a whole.   
13.3.2 Customs and Health 
In every society, the individuals, 
families and communities observe 
many customs that have direct 
bearing on health. From the 
moment of birth of a child, customs 
begin to shape experiences and 
behaviour of the child. In reality, 
by the time children can think 
independently, the health-related 
customs of the family have already 
become an intimate part of their 
personalities. They do not question 
these customs, as they are deeply 
held and protected by the society. 
It becomes extremely difficult to 
change them. Let us understand 
this by considering what happened 
to Seema.
The experiences of Seema 
shows the negative impact of social 
customs on health. 
Let us consider the influence 
of customs on the thinking and 
behaviour of individuals in respect 
of early marriage, breastfeeding 
practices, family size, preference for 
male child and substance abuse. All 
these affect family and community 
health.  
a ctIvIty 13.2
Seema studies in Class IX in a small town. She 
has two elder brothers.  Both the brothers get a 
lot of attention from the parents.  Parents believe 
that both their sons should get larger portion 
of milk, cheese and eggs. They tell Seema that 
her brothers need to be strong as they will grow 
up to head their families in future.  On the 
other hand, parents tell Seema that she should 
eat less, otherwise she will look too grown up 
and big for her age.  One day, while in class, 
Seema told her teacher that she was feeling 
dizzy.  Before the teacher could do anything, 
she fainted. The teacher took her to a nearby 
hospital and then went home with her. The 
teacher told Seema’s parents that the doctor 
had said that it was because of anaemia that 
she had fainted and that it was very important 
to ensure that Seema gets good nutrition to 
remain healthy. 
Think
1. Do you think the reasons given by 
Seema’s parents for ensuring that their 
sons get good nutrition while neglecting 
Seema’s nutritional needs are justified? 
Give reasons.
2. What are the customs related to diet for 
girls in your family and community?
Social Health 
Early Marriage 
Although efforts have been made since long to ensure that 
marriages take place at proper age, the problem of early 
marriage and even child marriage is still continuing in many 
communities in India. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 
stipulates legal age of marriage as 18 for girls and 21 for boys, 
but social customs encourage early marriage even now. You may 
have heard the word kanyadan. Influenced by 
prevailing customs, many parents consider 
it good to marry their daughters even before 
she attains puberty. The tradition of dowry is 
another factor for early marriage in India.  It is 
believed that dowry will be lower if the bride is 
younger in age.  
The early marriage custom puts pressure 
on young married women to prove their 
fertility resulting in high rates of adolescent 
pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy leads to 
greater health risks for the teenage mother 
and her child. Biologically, she is yet to attain 
reproductive maturity. There are chances of 
prolonged labour that can result in severe 
damage to the reproductive tract. The available 
evidence suggests that maternal deaths 
are considerably higher among adolescent 
mothers than among mature mothers. The 
babies born to adolescent mothers generally 
have low birth-weight. Such babies are more 
likely to die at birth or in infancy. Early 
pregnancy increases the risk of maternal 
and child morbidity and mortality. Early 
pregnancy also has serious psychological, 
social and economic consequences. 
It continues to affect adversely the 
educational, economic and social 
status of women and is likely to 
have negative impact on the quality 
of life of the family. 
In many cases, young girls are 
married to older men. Such girls 
do not have the courage to take 
decisions related to family needs, 
lack power and are more likely 
to experience partner violence.  
National Family Health Survey 
(NFHS-3, 2005, 2006) reveals that 
27 per cent young women and   
Fig. 13.1 : Child Marriage is Illegal
This poster has been designed by Shivani Sharma from 
Class X, KP ISP Nasik, Maharasthra
a ctIvIty 13.3
Read the case study given below and reflect 
on the question.
I am Munni. I was born in a very poor family. I 
am 17 years old now and have two children of age 
5 and 3. My parents never thought of educating  
me. They thought that education is not meant for  
girls and more so for poor people.
Questions for reflection
1. Why was Munni married so early?
2. How early marriage impacted Munni?
3. If you were in Munni’s place what would 
you have done?
 Health and Physical Education — Class IX
3 per cent young men in the 
age-group of 15-19 years were 
married.  
Breastfeeding
We have seen above the adverse 
effects of social customs 
promoting early marriage in our 
society. But some customs do 
have positive impact, for example, 
consider the issue related to 
breastfeeding. We are aware that 
traditionally mothers breastfeed 
their infants for a year or two and 
sometimes even longer. This has 
been an accepted norm. But now-
a-days, due to paucity of time 
and as a matter of convenience, 
some mothers do not breastfeed 
their infants. Life style concern 
also comes in the way of breast 
feeding. They choose to shift to 
powdered or bottled milk as a 
substitute for breast milk. Today 
an increasing number of women 
are working outside their homes 
and bottle feeding seems to be 
considered a more convenient 
option for them. Those who 
choose to breastfeed are looked 
down upon. Breastfeeding in 
public is also not an acceptable 
option.
However, there are two 
significant needs, which make 
breastfeeding important both 
for the mother as well as the 
child. One is nutritional while 
the other is psychological. 
While the nutritional benefit of 
breastfeeding is no doubt very 
important, the psychological 
bonding which develops between 
the child and the mother due 
to breastfeeding is unparalleled 
and has a positive impact on the 
health of both.
a ctIvIty 13.4
Find answers to the following questions
•	 In which of the Indian States do we find a 
large number of girls being married before 
they attain the legal age of marriage?
•	 Have you ever thought how early marriage 
affects both boys and girls, more particularly 
the girls?  Describe.
•	 Why early marriages in large number 
continue ingnoring the legal provision.
•	 How it affects the health of mother and child?
•	 Discuss with your classmates how to 
convince parents not to marry their children 
at an early age. 
a ctIvIty 13.5
Read the case study given below and answer the 
questions given at the end.
Sangeeta was studying in Class IX when her 
marriage was fixed with a person twice her age. 
Although she wanted to study further, she was 
pulled out of school because she was the eldest in 
the family and there were three more sisters to be 
married off. Soon after marriage, her husband and 
in-laws started pressurising her to become pregnant 
as they wanted an heir to their family. Sangeeta 
was unhappy but she did not have a choice. Within 
three months of her marriage, she got pregnant. 
Despite not keeping well during the pregnancy, she 
was made to do most of the household work. In the 
fifth month of her pregnancy, she had a miscarriage 
(abortion). Rather than supporting her through this 
difficult experience, her in-laws blamed Sangeeta 
for not giving them an heir. 
Questions for reflection
1. Who all are responsible for Sangeeta’s 
condition?
2. If you were in Sangeeta’s situation, What 
would you have done?
3. If Sangeeta was a boy, would things have 
been different? In what ways?
4. What would you do to convice the parents to 
avoid age related mismatch in the marriage 
of boys and girls of your locality.
Page 5


13.1 IntroductIon We have discussed health in previous chapters. By now you 
must have realised that health does not only mean freedom 
from diseases. It is much more. Health is the state of physical, 
mental and social well-being. It should be viewed in a holistic 
way.  An individual may be physically and mentally healthy, 
but if her/his social condition is problematic, she/he cannot 
achieve holistic health. In the present chapter, we shall focus 
on various aspects of social health.
13.2 What Is s ocIal h ealth ?
Let us first understand the meaning of social health. We know 
that social health is one of the three major components of 
health, the other two being physical and mental. Social health 
can be defined in two ways.  In one sense, it refers to the 
health of a person with reference to her/his ability to interact 
with others. It also refers to the health of a society in general. 
It focuses on how the members of a society treat each other 
and behave with each other. What kind of social environment 
prevails and how the prevailing customs and traditions guide 
the behaviour of individuals towards self, each other and 
towards the society as a whole also form social health. Social 
Health also includes how individual’s natural environment 
around them is. The role of the community as a whole acquires 
great importance for enhancing and maintaining the quality of 
the health of individuals. Although there are many dimensions 
of social health, we shall discuss below the impact of social 
customs on our health, the need to protect natural resources 
and the empowerment of community for healthy living.
13.3 Impact of s ocIal c ustoms 
Customs and traditions prevalent in a society influence all 
aspects of the lives of individuals, including their health and 
welfare. What people eat, how they eat, how they live and care 
for their own health as well as the health of their near and dear 
ones are influenced by the prevailing customs and traditions. 
Let us first understand the meaning of the term custom.
13.3.1 What is a Custom?
Customs generally refer to beliefs, habits or actions performed 
in the past and transmitted through time from one generation 
Social Health
13
a ctIvIty 13.1
Make a list of 
customs having a 
positive and negative 
impact on the health 
of individual and 
society prevailing in 
your neighbourhood. 
Share with your 
classmates their 
implications on 
health?
 Health and Physical Education — Class IX
to the next. These are derived from social norms which are 
rules or standards that guide, control or regulate proper and 
acceptable behaviour of a group. These norms define the shared 
expectations of a group and enable people to anticipate how 
others will interpret and respond to their words and actions 
if there is a deviation from these norms. For example, there 
are customs and traditions related to marriage ceremonies. 
These are observed by not only those who are getting married 
but also by the other members of the family and community. 
Many of the customs have positive impact on the relationships 
in a family and community. However, many of the customs 
have negative impact as well. For example, there are customs 
prevalent in many communities, like early marriage or 
discriminating against female child, or choice of spouse, which 
adversely affect the health and well-being not only of the female 
child but of the society as a whole.   
13.3.2 Customs and Health 
In every society, the individuals, 
families and communities observe 
many customs that have direct 
bearing on health. From the 
moment of birth of a child, customs 
begin to shape experiences and 
behaviour of the child. In reality, 
by the time children can think 
independently, the health-related 
customs of the family have already 
become an intimate part of their 
personalities. They do not question 
these customs, as they are deeply 
held and protected by the society. 
It becomes extremely difficult to 
change them. Let us understand 
this by considering what happened 
to Seema.
The experiences of Seema 
shows the negative impact of social 
customs on health. 
Let us consider the influence 
of customs on the thinking and 
behaviour of individuals in respect 
of early marriage, breastfeeding 
practices, family size, preference for 
male child and substance abuse. All 
these affect family and community 
health.  
a ctIvIty 13.2
Seema studies in Class IX in a small town. She 
has two elder brothers.  Both the brothers get a 
lot of attention from the parents.  Parents believe 
that both their sons should get larger portion 
of milk, cheese and eggs. They tell Seema that 
her brothers need to be strong as they will grow 
up to head their families in future.  On the 
other hand, parents tell Seema that she should 
eat less, otherwise she will look too grown up 
and big for her age.  One day, while in class, 
Seema told her teacher that she was feeling 
dizzy.  Before the teacher could do anything, 
she fainted. The teacher took her to a nearby 
hospital and then went home with her. The 
teacher told Seema’s parents that the doctor 
had said that it was because of anaemia that 
she had fainted and that it was very important 
to ensure that Seema gets good nutrition to 
remain healthy. 
Think
1. Do you think the reasons given by 
Seema’s parents for ensuring that their 
sons get good nutrition while neglecting 
Seema’s nutritional needs are justified? 
Give reasons.
2. What are the customs related to diet for 
girls in your family and community?
Social Health 
Early Marriage 
Although efforts have been made since long to ensure that 
marriages take place at proper age, the problem of early 
marriage and even child marriage is still continuing in many 
communities in India. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978 
stipulates legal age of marriage as 18 for girls and 21 for boys, 
but social customs encourage early marriage even now. You may 
have heard the word kanyadan. Influenced by 
prevailing customs, many parents consider 
it good to marry their daughters even before 
she attains puberty. The tradition of dowry is 
another factor for early marriage in India.  It is 
believed that dowry will be lower if the bride is 
younger in age.  
The early marriage custom puts pressure 
on young married women to prove their 
fertility resulting in high rates of adolescent 
pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy leads to 
greater health risks for the teenage mother 
and her child. Biologically, she is yet to attain 
reproductive maturity. There are chances of 
prolonged labour that can result in severe 
damage to the reproductive tract. The available 
evidence suggests that maternal deaths 
are considerably higher among adolescent 
mothers than among mature mothers. The 
babies born to adolescent mothers generally 
have low birth-weight. Such babies are more 
likely to die at birth or in infancy. Early 
pregnancy increases the risk of maternal 
and child morbidity and mortality. Early 
pregnancy also has serious psychological, 
social and economic consequences. 
It continues to affect adversely the 
educational, economic and social 
status of women and is likely to 
have negative impact on the quality 
of life of the family. 
In many cases, young girls are 
married to older men. Such girls 
do not have the courage to take 
decisions related to family needs, 
lack power and are more likely 
to experience partner violence.  
National Family Health Survey 
(NFHS-3, 2005, 2006) reveals that 
27 per cent young women and   
Fig. 13.1 : Child Marriage is Illegal
This poster has been designed by Shivani Sharma from 
Class X, KP ISP Nasik, Maharasthra
a ctIvIty 13.3
Read the case study given below and reflect 
on the question.
I am Munni. I was born in a very poor family. I 
am 17 years old now and have two children of age 
5 and 3. My parents never thought of educating  
me. They thought that education is not meant for  
girls and more so for poor people.
Questions for reflection
1. Why was Munni married so early?
2. How early marriage impacted Munni?
3. If you were in Munni’s place what would 
you have done?
 Health and Physical Education — Class IX
3 per cent young men in the 
age-group of 15-19 years were 
married.  
Breastfeeding
We have seen above the adverse 
effects of social customs 
promoting early marriage in our 
society. But some customs do 
have positive impact, for example, 
consider the issue related to 
breastfeeding. We are aware that 
traditionally mothers breastfeed 
their infants for a year or two and 
sometimes even longer. This has 
been an accepted norm. But now-
a-days, due to paucity of time 
and as a matter of convenience, 
some mothers do not breastfeed 
their infants. Life style concern 
also comes in the way of breast 
feeding. They choose to shift to 
powdered or bottled milk as a 
substitute for breast milk. Today 
an increasing number of women 
are working outside their homes 
and bottle feeding seems to be 
considered a more convenient 
option for them. Those who 
choose to breastfeed are looked 
down upon. Breastfeeding in 
public is also not an acceptable 
option.
However, there are two 
significant needs, which make 
breastfeeding important both 
for the mother as well as the 
child. One is nutritional while 
the other is psychological. 
While the nutritional benefit of 
breastfeeding is no doubt very 
important, the psychological 
bonding which develops between 
the child and the mother due 
to breastfeeding is unparalleled 
and has a positive impact on the 
health of both.
a ctIvIty 13.4
Find answers to the following questions
•	 In which of the Indian States do we find a 
large number of girls being married before 
they attain the legal age of marriage?
•	 Have you ever thought how early marriage 
affects both boys and girls, more particularly 
the girls?  Describe.
•	 Why early marriages in large number 
continue ingnoring the legal provision.
•	 How it affects the health of mother and child?
•	 Discuss with your classmates how to 
convince parents not to marry their children 
at an early age. 
a ctIvIty 13.5
Read the case study given below and answer the 
questions given at the end.
Sangeeta was studying in Class IX when her 
marriage was fixed with a person twice her age. 
Although she wanted to study further, she was 
pulled out of school because she was the eldest in 
the family and there were three more sisters to be 
married off. Soon after marriage, her husband and 
in-laws started pressurising her to become pregnant 
as they wanted an heir to their family. Sangeeta 
was unhappy but she did not have a choice. Within 
three months of her marriage, she got pregnant. 
Despite not keeping well during the pregnancy, she 
was made to do most of the household work. In the 
fifth month of her pregnancy, she had a miscarriage 
(abortion). Rather than supporting her through this 
difficult experience, her in-laws blamed Sangeeta 
for not giving them an heir. 
Questions for reflection
1. Who all are responsible for Sangeeta’s 
condition?
2. If you were in Sangeeta’s situation, What 
would you have done?
3. If Sangeeta was a boy, would things have 
been different? In what ways?
4. What would you do to convice the parents to 
avoid age related mismatch in the marriage 
of boys and girls of your locality.
Social Health 
There are many reasons why breast milk is healthier.  
Breast milk contains more than hundred nutrients that cannot 
be prepared in the laboratory. These nutrients are essential for 
the healthy growth and development of the child.  In fact, the 
caloric density, protein, carbohydrate and fat in breast milk are 
very important for the growth of the child.  Breast milk is free 
from contamination by bacteria and is easier for the infant’s 
stomach to digest.  Infants who are breastfed for at least eight 
months have reduced incidence of many diseases. The first 
secretion from the mother’s breast after the birth of the infant 
is known as colostrum. Scientific studies have shown that it 
is extremely good for the new born. But in some communities 
the mother is asked not to feed this fluid to the child, as they 
ignorantly think it to be impure. Such customs with a negative 
impact should be discouraged by creating awareness.  
Family Size, Preference for Male Child
Another set of customs and tradition that have adverse impact 
on social health is related to family size. Many people believe 
that child birth is a gift of God and individuals should not 
interfere with this divine process.  People also have preference 
for male child. Many a time parents go on giving birth to 
children, and the size of the family continues to grow, until a 
male child is born. This belief contributes to increasing number 
of children in the family. Some parents want to have at least 
two male children. The preference for male child has been the 
main cause of discrimination against girls. Girls are considered 
inferior to boys. Owing to discrimination, nutritional needs of 
girls are not met adequatly. All food items that are served to 
boys are not given to girls or are given in very less quantity. 
The girls are also discriminated in availing education facilities. 
In the process, girls are married off very early.
The discrimination against females has been a grave 
problem in our society. You must have read about the inverse 
sex ratio being a problem in our country as discused earlier. 
Parents get the pregnancy test done in a clinic and if they find 
it to be a female foetus, they get it aborted. Many girl children 
are killed just after their birth.
Substance Abuse
You have already studied in detail about substance abuse in 
Chapter 2. It is also known as drug abuse which has become a 
serious problem in our society. 
It is important to note that social customs have been closely 
related with the drug or substance abuse related behaviour of 
individuals since ages. Indian society, which enjoys cultural 
diversity, has a history of use of plant products such as, 
a ctIvIty 13.6
•	Examine the breast 
feeding publicity 
material (points, 
video, posters).
•	Which one do 
you think is more 
appealing to women 
and elderly to 
accept the message 
of breast feeding. 
Box 13.1
Findout sex 
ratio of your and 
neighbouring states 
and analyse the 
facts.