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Title could be enough. But since this question is so simple that it looks a bit absurd or obvious...

Unlike many questions out there in this site, I'm looking for fitness (rest included) in the health sense, in opposition to aesthetics or body improvement.

I'm not talking crazy here in listing these examples, which I believe are world wide common sense:

  • Eat at least 3 meals daily: breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'd bet most languages even have those 3 separated words to describe each of those meals. If not, they certainly do have this concept.

  • Have around 8 hours of sleep, every day, despite recent studies.

  • Brush and floss - rinse doesn't matter.

  • Wash your hands (notice bath isn't required daily - not world wide at least).

Question here is: what else is there? Sunscreen, maybe? I'd like to know what is, today, considered consolidated things that every single human being should do daily to maintain good health - including nutrition and even, eventually, exercises. For any age or size, if that wasn't clear.

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    This question is far too broad, I could say exercise 30 minutes a day and it could be correct. So while I admire your mission to simply be fit, this is not the way to do it
    – Ivo Flipse
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 17:29
  • An apple a day...
    – Ryan Miller
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 17:34
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    @Cawas As far as I'm aware, there isn't a site for that subject in the SE network. There is a Health proposal on Area 51 but I can't say when or if that site will be launched. You can commit it though and perhaps it might get some ground. Hope that helps.
    – user241
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 19:46
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    @Cawas that's because we moderators can only edit that top part and this style is mimicked on a lot of other sites (due to this limitation). We know its not ideal and also a reason why we've advocated changing our name to make it more Sports-centric, but sadly this hasn't happened
    – Ivo Flipse
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 18:39
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    @Cawas Our scope has had issues in the past, and we have had the need to explicitly state those items in the faq in order to drive and shape the kind of community we want on this site. Anyway, we shouldn't be using the comments here for this. If you have more to discuss, please find us in the Physical Fitness Chat or bring it to the Physical Fitness Meta.
    – user241
    Commented Mar 30, 2012 at 18:46

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There is no common sense.

There is so little consensus on most issues that I doubt we'll have many answers outside of the medical field.

  • Don't contaminate your wounds or food with harmful bacteria. But if you're antiseptic, that causes problems too.
  • Eat food. That's about as much as everybody can agree on. Number, timing, content, and even definition of food is hotly contested by reasonable people. For kicks, compare government recommendations, the Paleo diet, and vegans.
  • Don't smoke. (There are a huge number of other "don'ts" that I will omit for brevity.)
  • Floss and brush your teeth. I don't think this is disputed, but I wouldn't be surprised.
  • Avoid a sedentary lifestyle. What that means in terms of quantity and types of activity is hotly contested by reasonable people.

Sunscreen is hotly contested by reasonable people. (There are benefits of direct sunlight, and sunscreen may prevent those while allowing cancer-causing rays. Or we might just use the stuff poorly.) We don't understand our need for sleep, and some people can get highly varying amounts while retaining normal function. There is no scientific agreement on which supplements help or harm, and how much, and for whom.

This is a situation where we would like the science to be much clearer and in more agreement than it actually is. (Several of the points regarding the difficulty of science regarding health & fitness can be extrapolated from this answer regarding strength training and this critique of the recent Red Meat Is Satan scare.)

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  • Really, this whole answer only tells me I'm terrible at expressing my questions, most of times... :-( I am basically asking inside the medical field, if that wasn't clear. ;-)
    – cregox
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 19:44

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