Lifestyle & Health

Question 1

What is meant by lifestyle?

Answer 1

People’s styles of living - shaped by patterns in their consumption

Question 2

What are lifestyle choice-decisions?

Answer 2

Choices made by individuals about their consumption of goods, services & culture

Question 3

x2 types of lifestyle behaviours?

Answer 3

-Healthy
-Unhealthy

Question 4

What is the lifestyle approach?

Answer 4

Association between behs (i.e., a person’s lifestyle) & their health

Question 5

What is the relationship between lifestyle & health?

Answer 5

-Smoking – an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease
-Alcohol – an increased risk of cancer, obesity cardiovascular disease
-Illegal drugs – risk of bloodborne viruses (HBV, HCV, HIV), mental health issues
-Sedentary lifestyles –obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer
-Poor diet – obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease
-Unsafe sex – sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies
-Stress - high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes

Question 6

Give some modifiable risk behaviours.

Answer 6

-Smoking - tobacco use
-Physical inactivity
-Poor/unhealthy diet
-Alcohol consumption
–> as these all inc. risk of non-com diseases

Question 7

Why can a large proportion of diseases & therefore deaths be avoided?

Answer 7

Lots of deaths to non-com diseases -> highly influenced by lifestyle factors which are modifiable!

Question 8

Why is it an issue to state that people’s risk of non-communicable diseases can be reduced by modifying certain behaviours?

Answer 8

It fails to account for the individual
-> why do they lead the ‘unhealthy’ lifestyle that they do?
-> what control does the individual really have over these behaviours - they may be called modifiable - but is this really the case?

==> social determinants of health play a huge part in this - these are the conditions someone is born, grows, lives, works & ages - meaning their lifestyle decisions are hugely influenced by the environment they live in
-> this means the lifestyle approach fails to regard health inequalities when giving the idea that health behaviours are modifiable
-> because unfair inequalities contribute the health status of people
-> - so soc determinants of health = the root cause of health & disease
=> if the social settings that one is in does not promote health - then is it fair to state that individuals really have any choice in their health

-money!! - if someone cannot afford to eat healthy, or go to the gym
-> poverty & poor health = huge links!! - lower life expectancy
-access - are fast food outlets more readily available & cheaper than healthier alternatives? and is there land for people to go out into nature & exercise
-time - live very stressful lives with little time to prioritise diet & exercise
-others - have children grown up in a family/env where unhealthy eaten is all they know - so will they simply just copy this when they are older?

**So lifestyle choices - can still be said to be influenced by an element of choice - but largely by social determinants of health
-> choices vs constraints
People are NOT equally able to make the ‘right’ lifestyle choices in relation to their health as there are factors that constrain them from doing so (social determinants of health - which encapsulate health inequalities)

*Victim blaming is an issue if we state individuals have choice in their health choices but simply ignore the ones which promote healthy living out of ease
*Stigma

-> & so giving the view people have choice = ineffective
–> gives the view that risks for non-com diseases cannot be altered

-So if soc determinants = have big influence on health -> can target these instead -> so healthy choice is the easy choice!
‘the causes of the causes’

HOW?
-> changing env, promoting healthy macro policies, strengthening communities, improving living & working conditions, strengthening individuals