Lifestyles are a major determinant of who shall live and who shall die (Fuchs 1974; McKinlay and Marceau 1999). Mechanic (1978, p. 164) argues that the concept of lifestyles refers to a diverse set of variables, including nutrition, housing, health attitudes and beliefs, risk-taking behavior, health behavior and habits, and preventive health behavior.

Confirming the Link Between Lifestyles and Health

Establishing the causal linkage between lifestyles and health is not a simple task. Variables included in lifestyles interact with each other (Mechanic 1978), making it difficult to adjust for confounding variables such as race and ethnicity, gender, social class, and psychological distress.

In addition, there are problems in specifying the nature of the etiological relationship between lifestyles and disease. Not every person who engages in an unhealthy lifestyle will die prematurely. For example, some heavy smokers do not develop lung cancer. Genetic predisposition, comorbidities, other health habits, and access...