Behavior, Health-Related Health Article

BEHAVIOR, HEALTH-RELATED

Health-related behavior is one of the most important elements in people's health and well-being. Its importance has grown as sanitation has improved and medicine has advanced. Diseases that were once incurable or fatal can now be prevented or successfully treated, and health-related behavior has become an important component of public health. The improvement of health-related behaviors is, therefore, central to public health activities.

Behavioral factors play a role in each of the twelve leading causes of death, including chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke, which are the major causes of death in the United States and other developed countries. The most common behavioral contributors to mortality, or death, in 1990 included the use of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and motor vehicles; diet and activity patterns; sexual behavior; and illicit use of drugs. Behaviors such as these are thought to contribute to almost half of the deaths in the United States, and, according to J. McGinnis and W. Foege (1993), they were responsible for nearly 1 million deaths in the United States in the year of 1992 alone. The social and economic costs related to these behaviors can all be greatly reduced by changes in individuals' behaviors.

The last two decades of the twentieth century saw a rising interest in preventing disability and death through changes in health-related behaviors, particularly changes in lifestyle habits and participation in screening programs. Much of this interest was stimulated by the change in disease patterns from infectious to chronic diseases as leading causes of death, combined with the aging of the population, rapidly escalating health care costs, and data linking individual behaviors to increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) epidemic also contributed.

Although there is more information about what constitutes healthy behavior and risk factors than ever before, this information has not always led to healthier behaviors. There have been some positive changes, however. Between 1988 and 1994, the average daily intake of dietary fat in the United States dropped from 36 percent to 34 percent of total calories; seat belt use increased from 42 percent to 67 percent; and the number of women over the age of forty who had breast exams and mammograms doubled. Cigarette smoking has decreased among men by as much as 50 percent in some countries. Unfortunately, during this same period, the number of obese adults rose, sexual activity among adolescents increased, more teenage girls began smoking, and the incidence of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)/AIDS reached epidemic proportions.