Leisure and Tourism in the Health Concept of Women and Their Health Misconceptions

Abstract

The pursuit of good health continues to be a popular pursuit in the 21st century, however not everyone understands it in the holistic sense which encompasses physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and societal dimensions. Further, many do not understand how these dimensions influence their health, which leads to misconceptions and making faulty choices in healthy lifestyle practices. Leisure is strongly correlated to health and leisure activities which have been shown to have both direct and indirect effects on one’s health. Research also indicates gender inequalities in leisure disadvantage women disproportionately. This paper first summarizes the understandings of misconceptions, health, leisure, tourism, and their intersections, then introduces a small sample pilot study on the health concepts and misconceptions of female university students in Hungary.