| This chapter in the Handbook of Medical Sociology, 5th edition, provides an overview of the sociological theories and research literature on health lifestyles and health behavior. This topic is becoming increasingly important as people recognize the link between behavior and chronic disease and incorporate considerations of health into their everyday social life. The chapter begins with a review of the relevant theories of Weber, Giddens, and Bourdieu and shows how these theories contribute to the health lifestyle concept. Next comes a review of the empirical literature on the subject, including an examination of the relationship between health lifestyles, social class, age, gender, and other variables |