The importance of lifestyle to self-assessed health

Empirical research has revealed a causality between lifestyle and health, and lifestyle is seen as an important factor in explaining health differences among people. However, it is important to note the difference between the significance and the importance of a factor in explaining health differences, since the two concepts are commonly confused. Some research has suggested that lifestyle is not an important variable in explaining health differences, but just how important it is, is uncertain. This study measures the explanatory power of lifestyle for self-assessed health. It is found that lifestyle has only a limited effect; 3-5% of the differences in self-assessed health are explained by lifestyle variables. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.