Introduction

The acknowledgement of the role of lifestyle in the aetiology of many major diseases has been one of the most profound shifts in medical thinking in the twentieth century. In both the developed and the developing world, practices such as smoking and drinking are now believed to make a substantial contribution to premature mortality. The fervour with which lifestyle change has been promoted by governments world-wide reflects the seriousness with which these findings are regarded (US Department of Health and Human Services, 1990; Department of Health, 1992) and the wealth of research and polemic on this topic makes the choice of literature very difficult. The readings that have been selected in this section represent a number of important themes, including the initial observations that behaviour and health are related (Wingard et al.), the predictors of health behaviour (Calnan), the determination of appropriate endpoints in health promotion research (Fries et al.), and the evaluation of the efficacy of intervention strategies (Farquhar et al., Walter et al.).

The basic epidemiological work in this field has been concerned with the links between common behaviours such as smoking, exercise and dietary choice, and a variety of endpoints from general health status, through morbidity from specific diseases, to mortality.