Medical Directory 3.29.26 - Flipbook - Page 4
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| Sunday, March 29, 2026
The Connection Between Mental and Physical Health
Keep an Eye on Nutrition and Device Usage
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
C
onsider a typical scenario:
a college freshman returns
home after a semester and
pronounces to his family that he
has attention deficit disorder (ADD).
Formerly a socially active child who
excelled in school and sports, now
he was struggling to stay organized,
meet assignment deadlines and pay
attention in class.
In reality, the young adult’s overall health – mental and physical – is
likely impacted by his lifestyle, not
by a self-diagnosed disorder. He
skips breakfast before running to
an early class, may grab a burger or
slice of pizza for lunch and doesn’t
eat a good meal until dinner, if he
does. He may play intramural sports
or get in a minimal workout at the
gym before rushing to pledge a fraternity, hang out in the dorm, do
some homework and get to sleep at
2 a.m. The cycle continues early the
next morning.
This scenario was shared often
with Daniel J. Levy, M.D., a pediatrician in practice in the Baltimore
area for nearly 50 years. “The vast
majority of kids I see are not taking
care of themselves,” he notes. “Who
can operate successfully if they are
undernourished, under-rested, under-exercised and these days, overstimulated with all of the electronic
diversions? How much time do they
spend recreationally with an electronic device? It could be anywhere
from six to 10 or 11 hours a day.”
While the above scenario applies
to a typical college student, it reflects many children in high school
who are overprogrammed as well as
adults who spread themselves thin
with responsibilities related to the
home and parenting, work, volunteerism and more.
The biopsychosocial model
Levy has based his long-time
practice in part on the biopsychosocial model introduced in the early
1970s by the late George Engel, an
American psychiatrist who was also
board-certified in internal medicine.
Engel’s model considers the biological, psychological and social factors that affect health, illness and
healing.
“We look at the whole person,
how they live, their culture, the languages spoken in the home, the
foods they eat, the way they go to
sleep at night,” Levy says. “The vast
majority of kids that I see with some
long-standing issue, whether physical or something more emotional,
like depression or anxiety, might be
overweight or might be asthmatic,
but it always came back to looking
at the big picture.”
The connection between a
healthy mind and a healthy body
dates back to ancient Greek philosophers. Artistotle and Plato, for
Mental and Physical Health,
continued on page 6
