Skip to main content
Nancy N. Chen

Nancy N. Chen

Medical anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology at UC Santa Cruz; researches healing practices, health institutions, and food and medicine.

Jul 14, 2026

17:12
So what culturally do we actually mean when we say healthy?
17:18
Health itself is a construction and a reflection of social norms and cultural values.
17:25
The question of not only what is healthy, but perhaps more specifically what is good health, is something that changes over time.
17:33
Our bodies change.
17:34
Think about it.
17:35
Your body as an infant, your body as a child, as an adolescent, as a young adult, as an aging person through the decades, and then as an elderly person, all of these notions of what is good health shift over time.
17:50
Health is a very dynamic, constant process of evolving and transformation.

21 MINS LATER

38:56
Yeah.

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.