Lifestyle

Lifestyle simply defined is the way in which a person lives.

Associated closely with particular ways of living promoted through advertising and branding, the word ‘lifestyle’ has been used increasingly widely in a design context from the 1960s onwards although the term had originally been coined in the late 1920s by the psychologist Alfred Adler to denote the ways in which childhood personality traits marked out future behaviour.

In recent years it has been absorbed into marketing jargon to mean ‘the sum total of the behaviour patterns and likes and dislikes of particular customers or a section of the market’ and has developed an attributive or adjectival use (i.e. coming before a noun).

In some contexts, way of life, or even just life, seems preferable to a word that has become so bogged down in promotional hype. The derivative word lifestyler, meaning ‘someone with a special lifestyle’ has an ephemeral ring but is now common, often linked with the word alternative to denote people who lead unconventional lives.

In public health, “lifestyle” generally means a pattern of individual practices and personal behavioral choices that are related to elevated or reduced health risk. Since the mid-1970s, there has been a growing recognition of the significant contribution of personal behavior choices to health risk—in the United States thirty-eight percent of deaths in 1990 were attributed to tobacco, diet and activity patterns, and alcohol. Equally important, illnesses attributable to lifestyle choices play a role in reducing health-related quality of life and in creating health disparities among different segments of the population.

Lifestyles are born of a multitude of causes, from childhood determinants to personality makeup to influences in the cultural, physical, economic, and political environments. Thus, efforts to encourage good health practices should also promote environments that support them.

I am here highlighting certain articles on this site as a good resource for lifestyle information and health.

General:
Healthy Body – a result of healthy lifestyle
Top 10 steps to energize yourself
Top 10 steps to prevent lifestyle diseases

Diet:
Eating style – All pathy consensus statement at MTNL Perfect Health Mela
Broccoli – good for heart and health

Physical activity:
Walk 3000 steps for your best health

Pregnancy:
Should we eat gur and chana once a week?

Skin problems:
5 Winter Skin Care Tips

Respiratory problems:
Preventing and managing common cold and sinus problems
10 tips to manage and prevent chronic common cold

Rheumatological problems:
Homeopathy and yoga may cure chronic back pain sufferers
Getting vitamin D is easier

Diabetes:
Rotating night-shift working may lead to diabetes in working-women
Diabetes and hypertension – twin epidemic in India
Diabetes Mellitus – a historical aspect

Cancer:
Your lifestyle can prevent cancer
Prolonged sitting may lead to breast cancer, colon cancer

Neurological problems:
Alzheimer’s disease or senile dementia is, by and large, a lifestyle disease

Seasonal problems:
3 most important health tips to overcome summer heat