Lifestyle Influences Health What Influences lifestyle

The determinants of health. A healthy lifestyle would help prevent a large number of chronic diseases. Yet, as with health, there is no equality in lifestyle in our society. Health and illness are often linked to social differences. Therefore, one of the fundamental tasks of prevention and health promotion is to create equal health opportunities. In this, structural measures which also influence the way of life are essential.

The determinants of health. A healthy lifestyle would help prevent a large number of chronic diseases. Yet, as with health, there is no equality in lifestyle in our society. Health and illness are often linked to social differences. Therefore, one of the fundamental tasks of prevention and health promotion is to create equal health opportunities. In this, structural measures which also influence the way of life are essential

Smoking, alcoholism, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity are key health factors linked to a range of non-communicable diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that increased physical activity, a healthier diet and stopping smoking could prevent up to 80 percent of coronary heart disease and 90 percent of type 2 diabetes cases. and a third of all cancers.

The least advantaged are in poorer health

Health is the most precious good – and like all goods, it is unequally distributed in society. For a long time now, biological, genetic factors or individual health behavior are no longer the only ones to influence the health, good or less good, of an individual.

Health inequalities are a pervasive and universal phenomenon. In all countries that provide data, early mortality and life expectancy are socially unequally distributed. A disadvantaged socioeconomic status corresponds to high mortality and lower life expectancy.

What are the factors influencing a healthy lifestyle?

In what sense are the cause and effect links between socioeconomic and health inequalities felt? A meta-study on the subject, commissioned by the Federal Office of Public Health, reveals that it is above all socio-economic status which has an effect on health, and not the opposite. Low socioeconomic status contains increased health risk – directly or indirectly.

What is the cause? Behaviors or circumstances?

That is to say, people with a low level of education or professional status share a culture that encourages behaviors harmful to health. We also speak here of a cultural and behavioral explanatory approach. This explanation includes tobacco and alcohol consumption, poor eating behaviors or physical inactivity. These behaviors are closely associated with physiological and biomedical parameters such as hypertension or high cholesterol levels, both risk factors for many chronic diseases.

It is assumed that 30 to 50 percent of health disparities can be attributed directly to health behavior. This approach is therefore not sufficient to explain health inequality on its own. Another explanatory approach is also worth considering: material/structural explanation. The argument presented here is that the health of people at the bottom of the social ladder is influenced indirectly. These people not only have low financial resources, but also live and work in environments more harmful to health than more socially advantaged people. Recent research has added two new explanatory approaches. The psychosocial explanation is the more advanced of the two. This explanation arose from growing doubt that behavioral and material factors would suffice to explain the social gradient in health. This hypothesis is based on research findings that document significant health disparities for groups in which health threats such as living and working conditions are rather unlikely, such as for service employees. audience. This is why the explanation of health inequalities by material factors is increasingly supplemented by psychological and psychosocial factors. These may include, for example, critical events, chronic daily burdens such as stress (e.g. insufficient participation and room for maneuver), support and social network, self-confidence or ability to do face. Numerous studies have been able to illustrate that not only psychosocial burdens but also the resources to manage them are unevenly distributed. People with disadvantaged socio-economic status are thus affected in two ways. In general, the explanation of health inequality attributes a value comparable to that assigned to material factors to psychosocial burdens and resources.

Prevention focused on structural situation

Behavioral, material and psychosocial factors are therefore responsible for a large part of health inequalities. How should prevention proceed to achieve maximum effectiveness? However, studies indicate that the independent effect of health behavior and psychosocial factors is weaker than the separate analysis suggests. Conversely, this means that health inequalities are primarily explained by material factors because the latter strongly influence health behavior and psychosocial factors. In other words: measures focused on health behavior are certainly relevant for strengthening overall health. However, they will struggle to reduce health inequalities, because material living conditions and psychosocial factors play a more important role in explaining socioeconomic differences in health than health behavior. The latter is rather a consequence of material/structural living conditions and psychosocial burdens. Behavioral prevention therefore primarily targets the consequences but not the causes themselves.