Newswise
— Four unhealthy behaviors—smoking, lack of
physical activity, poor diet and alcohol
consumption—appear to be associated with a
substantially increased risk of death when
combined, according to a report in the April
26 issue ofArchives of Internal Medicine,
one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Several studies have shown that specific
health behaviors, including cigarette
smoking, physical inactivity, higher alcohol
intake and, to a lesser extent, diets low in
fruits and vegetables, are associated with
an increased risk of cardiovascular disease,
cancer and premature mortality [death],” the
authors write as background information in
the article.
Most studies that examine the effects of
these behaviors control for other unhealthy
behaviors to identify independent effects.
However, several poor lifestyle choices may
coexist in the same individual.
“To fully understand the public health
impact of these behaviors, it is necessary
to examine both their individual and
combined impact on health outcomes,” write
Elisabeth Kvaavik, Ph.D., of University of
Oslo, Norway, and colleagues.
The researchers interviewed 4,886
individuals age 18 or older in 1984 to 1985.
“A health behavior score was calculated,
allocating one point for each poor behavior:
smoking; fruits and vegetables consumed less
than three times daily; less than two hours
physical activity per week; and weekly
consumption of more than 14 units [one unit
equals 8 grams, or about 0.3 ounces] of
alcohol (in women) and more than 21 units
(in men).”
During an average of 20 years of follow-up,
1,080 participants died—431 from
cardiovascular disease, 318 from cancer and
331 from other causes.
When compared with participants who had no
poor health behaviors, the risk of death
from all causes and from each cause
increased with each additional behavior.
Individuals with four compared with zero
poor health behaviors had about three times
the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease
or cancer, four times the risk of dying from
other causes and an overall death risk
equivalent to being 12 years older.
“Modest but achievable adjustments to
lifestyle behaviors are likely to have a
considerable impact at both the individual
and population level,” the authors conclude.
“Developing more efficacious methods by
which to promote healthy diets and
lifestyles across the population should be
an important priority of public health
policy.”
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