Lifestyle Medicine

Lifestyle Medicine—An Emerging New Discipline

Robert F Kushner, MD 1 and Jeffrey I Mechanick, MD 2

1. Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Director, Center for Lifestyle Medicine, Northwestern Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, US;
2. Clinical Professor of Medicine; Director, Metabolic Support, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,
New York City, New York, US

Abstract
Unhealthful lifestyle behaviors are a primary source of the global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and account for about 63 % of
all global deaths. Recently, there has been an increased interest in evaluating the benefit of adhering to low-risk lifestyle behaviors and ideal
cardiovascular health metrics. Although a healthful lifestyle has repeatedly been shown to improve mortality, the population prevalence of healthy
living remains low. The new discipline of lifestyle medicine has recently emerged as a systematized approach for the management of chronic disease.
The practice of lifestyle medicine requires skills and competency in addressing multiple health risk behaviors and improving self-management. This
article focuses on the effects of a healthful lifestyle on chronic disease and defining lifestyle medicine as a unique discipline. It also reviews the role
of effective provider–patient communication as an essential element for fostering behavior change—the main component of lifestyle medicine.
The principles of communication and behavior change are skill based and are grounded in scientific theories and models. Communication and
counseling must be contextualized to the patients’ economic situation, access to care, social support, culture, and health literacy.

Keywords
Noncommunicable diseases, lifestyle medicine, prevention, risk factor reduction

Disclosure: Robert F Kushner, MD, and Jeffrey I Mechanick, MD, have no conflicts of interest to declare. No funding was received for the publication of this article.
Open Access: This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, adaptation,
and reproduction provided the original author(s) and source are given appropriate credit.
Received: February 25, 2015 Accepted: April 2, 2015 Citation: US Endocrinology, 2015;11(1):36–40 DOI: 10.17925/USE.2015.11.01.36
Correspondence: Robert F Kushner, MD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity, 750 North Lake Shore Drive,
Rubloff 9-976, Chicago IL, US. E: [email protected]

Rationale for Development of a New Discipline [CVDs], diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases) and the four
Lifestyle medicine is a nascent discipline that has recently emerged as a shared risk factors (tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthful diets, and
systematized approach for management of chronic disease. The individual harmful use of alcohol).5 These diseases are preventable. It is estimated
elements and skillsets that define lifestyle medicine are determined, in that up to 80 % of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) and
large part, by the primary contributors to noncommunicable diseases more than a third of cancers could be prevented by eliminating these
(NCDs). Unhealthful lifestyle behaviors are among the leading risk factors four shared risk factors. These four types of diseases and their risk factors
for increased disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in the US1 and around are considered together in the WHO action plan to emphasize common
the world.2 DALYs have become an important metric for assessing health causes and highlight potential synergies in prevention and control.
outcome and are defined as the sum of years of life lost to premature
mortality and years lived with disabilities. Globally, NCDs account for about In the US, the five leading causes of death in 2010 were diseases of the
63 % of all deaths. By 2030, it is estimated that NCDs may account for 52 heart, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, cerebrovascular disease
million annual deaths worldwide.3 One of the primary aims of the 2011 (stroke), and unintentional injuries.6 Among persons younger than 80, these
UN high-level meeting of the General Assembly on noncommunicable five diseases represented 66 % of all deaths. Table 1 displays selected
diseases was as follows: “Reducing the level of exposure of individuals modifiable lifestyle risk factors for these diseases. Other modifiable risk
and populations to the common modifiable risk factors for NCDs, namely, factors associated with these diseases include sun exposure, ionizing
tobacco use, unhealthful diet, physical inactivity, and the harmful use of radiation, and hormones (cancer); and air pollutants, occupational exposure,
alcohol, and their determinants, while at the same time strengthening and allergens (lower respiratory disease).
the capacity of individuals and populations to make healthier choices
and follow lifestyle patterns that foster good health.”4 More recently, the There is a similarity of modifiable lifestyle risk factors for the five leading
World Health Organization (WHO) published its 2008–2013 Action Plan for causes of death. The strength of the evidence regarding the effects of daily
the Global Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable habits on health outcomes is further supported by comparing the leading
Diseases to prevent and control the four NCDs (cardiovascular diseases clinical guidelines on prevention and treatment of disease (see Table 2).7–11

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Individual lifestyle behaviors are among the five multiple determinants Table 1: Individual Risk Factors Contributing to
of health as defined by Healthy People 2020, the science-based 10-year the Five Leading Causes of Death in the US 6
national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.12 The other
four determinants are environment, social, healthcare, and genetics and Heart Cancer Lower Stroke Unintentional
biology. In reality, the occurrence or reduction of individual risk factors Disease Respiratory Injuries
closely align with the other major determinants. For example, whether an Disease
Tobacco √ √ √ √
individual consumes an unhealthful diet or is physically inactive will depend,
Poor diet √ √ √
in part, on social, demographic, environmental, economic, and geographical
Physical inactivity √ √ √
attributes of the neighborhood within which the person lives and works.6
Overweight √ √ √
Alcohol √ √ √
Defining Lifestyle Medicine
The proposed new discipline of lifestyle medicine differs from other closely
aligned fields in medicine, such as preventive medicine, individualized or lifestylemedicine.org) and an educational track in lifestyle medicine, all
personalized medicine, and integrative medicine. Certainly there is overlap announced at the American College of Preventive Medicine’s annual
in the targets of intervention, but there are also important differences in meeting. Societies promoting lifestyle medicine have also been formed in
philosophy and scope of practice. Preventive medicine focuses on the Europe (ESLM; https://eu-lifestylemedicine.org) and Australia (ALMA; http://
health of individuals, communities, and defined populations. Its goal is lifestylemedicine.com.au). Other educational initiatives include the Lifestyle
to protect, promote, and maintain health and well-being and to prevent Medicine Education Collaborative (www.LifestyleMedicineEducation.org)
disease, disability, and death.13 Individualized or personalized medicine created to provide leadership, guidance, and resources to advance the
tries to tailor medical interventions in terms of stratifying care by genetic adoption and implementation of lifestyle medicine curricula throughout
characteristics.14 A recently suggested definition was offered by Schleidgen medical education,25 and the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine (http://www.
et al.15 as a discipline that “seeks to improve tailoring and timing of instituteoflifestylemedicine.org/) at the Joslin Diabetes Center. In short,
preventive and therapeutic measures by utilizing biological information lifestyle medicine is defined as the achievement of health in conjunction
and biomarkers on the level of molecular disease pathways, genetics, [and] with the prevention or management of chronic disease by enhancing the
proteomics, as well as metabolomics.” power of self-care behaviors.

Integrative medicine is closely aligned with lifestyle medicine in its Effects of a Healthful Lifestyle on
core tenets. It has multiple definitions that describe a specialty that Chronic Disease
incorporates both conventional and alternative therapies. Rakel16 defines There is a strong body of evidence to show that practicing healthful lifestyle
it as “[h]ealing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person behaviors reduces the risk for chronic disease. In 2009, the American
(body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the College of Preventive Medicine published a comprehensive review
therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both of the scientific evidence for lifestyle medicine both for the prevention
conventional and alternative.” According to Rees and Weil,17 “Integrated and treatment of chronic disease.26 Twenty-four chronic diseases were
medicine selectively incorporates elements of complementary and reviewed in this publication, highlighting the effects of a healthful lifestyle
alternative medicine into comprehensive treatment plans alongside on improving the root causes of disease.
solidly orthodox methods of diagnosis and treatment. It focuses on health
and healing rather than disease and treatment.” The core competencies Recently, multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been
in integrated medicine for medical school curricula defines integrative published that demonstrate the beneficial effect of lifestyle interventions
medicine as “an approach to the practice of medicine that makes use of in reducing T2D incidence in patients who have impaired glucose
the best available evidence, taking into account the whole person (body, tolerance,27,28 management of T2D,28-30 hypercholesterolemia,31 CVD,11
mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle.”18 Last, Snyderman and and metabolic syndrome.32,33 In a NIH–AARP population-based cohort
Weil19 define integrative medicine as “preventive maintenance of health study of 207,449 men and women, the 11-year risk for incident T2D for
by paying attention to all relative components of lifestyle, including diet, men and women whose diet score, physical activity, smoking status,
exercise, and well-being.” and alcohol use were all in the low-risk group had odd ratios (ORs)
for T2D of 0.61 and 0.43, respectively, compared with the high-risk group.34
Much as is the case with integrative medicine, several definitions of lifestyle T2D and obesity are among the two most significant NCDs, currently
medicine have been proposed and are listed in Table 3.20–24 Common affecting 366 million and 500 million people worldwide, respectively35,36
elements in all of these definitions are the application of evidence-based and often called “diabesity” because of their close association. One of
lifestyle interventions that promote self-management for promotion of the most effective targets for T2D treatment is management of excess
well-being, prevention of illness, and management of chronic disease. body weight by diet and physical activity. The beneficial effect of weight
Although medication adherence can be considered an aspect of self-care, loss on glycemic control and reduction of cardiovascular risk factors
most definitions consider lifestyle interventions to be used in conjunction has been recently demonstrated in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health
with pharmacotherapy rather than encompassing drug therapy itself. in Diabetes) trial. In this prospectively controlled, randomized study
To support this new initiative, the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine conducted at 16 US research centers, 5,145 overweight adults aged 45–
was launched in 2007 in conjunction with the creation of a new academic 76 and having T2D were randomly assigned either an intensive lifestyle-
medical society, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (http:// based weight loss intervention (ILI) or a diabetes support and education

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Table 2: Common Themes in Current Dietary and Lifestyle Recommendations

USDA Dietary American Heart American Diabetes American Cancer AHA/ACC Guideline on Lifestyle
Guidelines (2010) Association (2006) Association (2014) Society (2012) Management to Reduce
Cardiovascular Risk (2014)
Healthy body weight √ √ √ √ √
Engage in physical activity √ √ √ √ √
Increase fruits and vegetables √ √ √ √ √
Choose whole grains (high-fiber foods) √ √ √ √ √
Limit salt √ √ √ √ √
Limit saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol √ √ √ √
Limit consumption of alcoholic beverages √ √ √ √
Minimize intake of added sugars √ √ √ √
Limit consumption of processed meat
√ √
and meat products
Consume fish, especially oily fish √
Limit consumption of refined grains √

AHA/ACC = American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology; USDA = US Department of Agriculture.

Table 3: Current Definitions of Lifestyle Medicine

American College of Lifestyle The therapeutic use of evidence-based lifestyle interventions to treat and prevent lifestyle related diseases in a clinical setting. It empowers
Medicine, 2011 individuals with the knowledge and life skills to make effective behavior changes that address the underlying causes of disease
Egger, Binns and Rossner, The application of environmental, behavioral, medical, and motivational principles to the management of lifestyle-related health
2012 problems (including self-care and self-management) in a clinical setting
Lianov and Johnson, 2010 Evidence-based practice of assisting individuals and families to adopt and sustain behaviors that can improve health and quality of life

Rippe, 1999, 2014 The integration of lifestyle practices into the modern practice of medicine both to lower the risk factors for chronic disease and/or,
if disease already present, serve as an adjunct in its therapy. Lifestyle medicine brings together sound, scientific evidence in diverse
health-related fields to assist the clinician in the process of not only treating disease, but also promoting good health

Sagner et al., 2014 A branch of evidence-based medicine in which comprehensive lifestyle changes (including nutrition, physical activity, stress
management, social support, and environmental exposure) are used to prevent, treat, and reverse the progression of chronic diseases
by addressing their underlying causes

intervention (DSE).37 Although 4-year results showed statistically up for a mean of 7.8 years. Adherence to four health behaviors (not
significant improvements in fitness, glycemic control, and cardiovascular smoking, exercising 3.5 hours per week, eating a healthful diet [high
risk factors,38,39 the trial was discontinued in September 2012 after a intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain bread and low meat
median follow-up of 9.6 years on the basis of a futility analysis.40 The consumption], and having a body mass index [BMI] of <30 kg/m2) at
probability of observing a significant positive result at the planned baseline was associated with 78 % lower risk for developing chronic
end of follow-up was estimated to be 1 %. Proposed explanations disease (T2D 93 %, myocardial infarction 81 %, stroke 50 %, and
for the lack of significant difference in rates of cardiovascular events cancer 36 %) than participants without the healthful factors.42
between the ILI and DSE groups include a 2.5 % difference in weight loss • In the Nurses’ Health Study, a prospective cohort study of 81,722 US
between groups at year 10, intensification of medical management of women from 1984 to 2010, a low-risk lifestyle was defined as not
cardiovascular risk factors, and low event rate.41 smoking, having a BMI of less than 25 kg/m2, exercise duration of
30 minutes/day or longer, and being in the top 40 % of the alternate
Over the past few years, there has been an increased interest in Mediterranean diet score, which emphasizes high intake of vegetables,
evaluating the benefit of adhering to “low-risk lifestyle” behaviors on the fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains, and fish and moderate intake
development of morbidity and mortality. Although the criteria for defining of alcohol. Compared with women having no low-risk factors, the
low-risk lifestyle factors vary, these studies have shown that adherence multivariate relative risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) decreased
to a healthful lifestyle is associated with improved health outcomes. The progressively for women having one, two, three, and four low-risk
following population studies are notable for their size and magnitude in factors to 0.54, 0.41, 0.33, and 0.08, respectively. The proportion of SCD
demonstrating the potential effects of fostering lifestyle medicine as a attributable to smoking, inactivity, overweight, and poor diet was 81 %.43
new discipline. • The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), a prospective
epidemiologic study of 15,792 men and women aged 44–64 years at
• In the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition enrollment, demonstrated that adopting a healthful lifestyle after age
(EPIC) study, 23,153 German participants aged 35–65 were followed 45 results in substantial benefits after only 4 years compared with

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people living less healthful lifestyles, reducing mortality, and CVD risk are individual behavior, environment, social, healthcare, and genetics and
by 40 % and 35 %, respectively.44 biology. The term “behavioral” refers to underlying processes, such as
• To further explore the relationship between change in health cognition, emotion, temperament, personality, and motivation. The term
behaviors, socioeconomic status, and mortality, Stringhini et al.45 “social” encompasses sociocultural, socioeconomic, and sociodemographic
followed a cohort of 10,308 civil servants from baseline examination status.52 Attention to these and other contextualizing factors is important
(1985–1988) to phase 7 (2002–2004) in the British Whitehall II study. to further understand the barriers that patients face when implementing
After adjusting for sex and year of birth, those having the lowest lifestyle changes. How we help patients change behavior represents a set
socioeconomic position had 1.60 times higher risk for death from all of cognitive tools grounded in behavioral science.
causes than those with the highest socioeconomic position. However,
this association was attenuated by 72 % when four health behaviors The social determinants of health—i.e. the economic and social conditions that
(smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity) were influence the health of people and communities—are particularly important
entered in the statistical model. in the practice of lifestyle medicine and present several considerations
• In a population-based prospective cohort of 20,721 Swedish men that must be incorporated when providing effective counseling. The first is
aged 45–79 without history of chronic disease, followed for 11 years, health disparities, which encompass an appreciation of the racial, ethnic, and
five low-risk behaviors (healthful diet, moderate alcohol consumption, cultural factors that affect treatment decision-making. Cultural competence
no smoking, physical activity, and healthy waist circumference) were refers to having the capacity to function effectively as a healthcare provider
associated with an 86 % lower risk for myocardial infarction events within the context of the cultural beliefs, practices, and needs presented
compared with the high-risk group with no low-risk factors.46 by patients and their communities.53 By contrast, cultural humility implies
having an attitude that acknowledges that a patient’s culture can only be
Another approach used to assess the burden of disease is to combine appreciated by learning from the patient. The second consideration is health
lifestyle and physiologic risk factors. This has been extensively applied to literacy, often defined as a set of skills that people need to function effectively
CVD. In the INTERHEART study, a case control study of acute myocardial in the healthcare environment.54 It represents the capacity for individuals
infarction across 52 countries, 15,152 cases and 14,820 controls were to obtain, communicate, process, and understand health information and
enrolled between 1999 and 2003 to assess the effect of risk factors on services to make appropriate decisions.55 The skills include the ability to read
development of coronary heart disease.47 The study showed that more and understand text, interpret information, and speak and listen effectively.
than 90 % of the proportion of risk for an initial myocardial infarction is These skills are particularly important when we ask patients to track their
collectively attributable to nine measured and potentially modifiable risk diet, read food labels, incorporate behavioral advice, or take prescribed
factors: cigarette smoking, diabetes, raised ApoB/Apo A1 ratio, hypertension, medication. Low health literacy is associated with poorer health outcomes
abdominal obesity, psychosocial factors, daily consumption of fruits and and poorer use of healthcare services.54
vegetables, regular alcohol consumption, and regular physical activity.
The concept of shared decision-making (SDM) is stipulated in the Affordable
The concept of “cardiovascular health metrics” has also emerged as a Care Act to ensure that medical care better aligns with patients’ preferences
method to assess cardiovascular risk and has been called “Life’s Simple 7” and values.56 SDM describes a collaborative process between patients
by the American Heart Association (AHA) in its 2020 Strategic Impact Goals and their clinicians to reach agreement about a health decision that may
targeting a 20 % relative improvement in overall cardiovascular health in involve multiple treatment options and targets or therapy.57,58 Clinicians and
all Americans.48 The AHA combines four health behaviors (smoking, diet, patients work together to clarify the patients’ values and concerns, select a
physical activity, and body weight) with three health factors (plasma glucose, preference-sensitive decision, and agree on a follow-up plan. Intrinsic to SDM
cholesterol, and blood pressure) as metrics and assesses adherence as is the use of patient decision aids, which include written materials, videos,
poor, intermediate, or ideal by distinct definitions.49 The AHA also recently and interactive electronic presentations designed to inform patients about
published 11 comprehensive articles in a themed series, “Recent Advances care options.56 An example of SDM using a patient decision aid is smoking
in Preventive Cardiology and Lifestyle Medicine,” emphasizing the multiple cessation counseling. The pros and cons of gradual reduction in the number
determinants of cardiovascular health.50 Finally, Yang et al.51 analyzed the of cigarettes smoked versus abrupt cessation can be discussed along with
associations between the number of ideal cardiovascular health metrics which (if any) of the multiple pharmacotherapy treatments to choose.
and mortality over a median follow-up of 14.5 years using data from the
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Compared Implementation of Lifestyle Medicine in
with individuals having zero or one metric at ideal levels, those having six or Clinical Practice
more metrics at ideal levels had 51 %, 76 %, and 70 % lower adjusted hazards Despite the appeal of this new emerging discipline, existing evidence
for all-cause, CVD, and ischemic heart disease mortality, respectively. for implementing lifestyle medicine counseling in primary care is mixed
and limited. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found that
Practitioner Skills for Lifestyle Medicine the health benefit for diet, physical activity, and behavioral counseling to
The practice of lifestyle medicine is dependent upon the provider’s prevent CVD in the primary care setting is small (Grade C).59,60 By contrast,
ability to implement and sustain behavior change in patients regardless the USPSTF found stronger albeit modest evidence for diet and physical
of the target behavior—e.g., smoking cessation, reduction in alcohol use, activity counseling for CVD prevention in adults with existing cardiovascular
increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, engagement in physical risk factors (Grade B) 61 and behavioral counseling for obesity (Grade B).62,
activity, and reducing body weight. As already noted, the five determinants 63
The research data on management of obesity in primary care is most
of health defined by Healthy People 202012 that influence health outcomes intriguing. Although intensive behavioral counseling has been found to

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be effective, studies demonstrating successful implementation in primary with reduced morbidity and mortality. However, there is also considerable
practice are limited.64,65 Even if the primary care system- and practice- evidence that healthful lifestyle behaviors are incorporated by a minority
based barriers are ameliorated, implementation of lifestyle medicine will of the population. Lifestyle medicine presents a new and challenging
require multiple strategies that incorporate public health, environmental, approach to address the prevention and treatment of NCDs, the most
and community approaches.66,67 important and prevalent causes for increased morbidity and mortality
worldwide. Good communication between the provider and patient is
Conclusion paramount in eliciting behavior change. Rather than simply educating and
A significant body of literature demonstrates that adoption of low-risk instructing patients about what to do, behavior change counseling should
lifestyle behaviors and ideal cardiovascular health metrics are associated be a guiding and collaborative process. n

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