A REPORT ON LIFESTLE AND BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS

A REPORT ON LIFESTLE AND BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS

Analysis

The number of smokers does not differ significantly for individuals below the age of fifty-four years. For alcohol drinking, however, young interviewees seem to drink a lot as compared to the older ones. Information on individuals who wear seatbelts seems challenging to interpret. Individuals between twenty-five to thirty-four years have a higher tendency of wearing seatbelts as compared to the other groups. The group with the higher number of individuals wearing belts also tends to have a higher number of individuals talking on the phone while driving. The consumption of a healthy diet is not significantly different between the age groups, but there is some increment with age. Individuals above thirty-five years suffer from a particular health condition. The response on the belief of living a healthy lifestyle sees a large number of the interviewees believing that they are living a healthy lifestyle.

A Report on Lifestyle and Health

The choice of the kind of lifestyle to lead is individual’s. Individuals either deliberately choose the type of lifestyle to adopt or are forced by circumstances. Some of the factors that affect the lifestyle choice of lifestyle are the income level, health status and age. The interview contacted at the beginning of this study is done on a group of thirty individuals from different towns. The interview however suffered from a few cases where individuals failed to give a response to some questions hence the deviations observed in some levels of response. The trends in behavioural patterns do not seem much surprising since the statistics show a trend similar to expectations.  The responses indicate an observable relationship between the behaviour of an individual and their age. It is evident that the interviewees could change a few practices to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The lifestyle chosen by an individual has a direct impact on the health status of the said individual, and thus a change in the lifestyle implies a change in health status.

The trends on most common behaviours are not against the expectations of many. For example, drug and substance abuse is prevalent among the young population. According to (Robins L., & Przybeck R., 2011), drug abuse is a vice associated with young age especially for individuals between fifteen to thirty-five years. The trend changes with advancement in age. It is a matter of common sense that as people grow mature, responsibilities come in and little time is found for idleness which discourages involvement in drug abuse. The high rate of drug abuse among young individuals can be attributed to lack of proper societal structures which leads to poor parenting and hence the behavioural change. Also, young individuals are at the initial stages of career building, and most of them are unemployed, a factor which creates excess free time and thus engagement in drug abuse. However, the study got a somehow surprising trend on seatbelt sensitisation. The number of individuals wearing seatbelts is significantly high for individuals aged between twenty-five and thirty-four years and relatively lowers in all the other ages. One would typically expect the youth to be relatively careless as compared to the aged population, a claim that is not supported by the interview. Several reasons could have caused this exception; however: the interview did not question the individuals on whether they had cars or not. A possibility is that the youths prefer driving their cars rather than hiring drivers and thus the question was only relevant to the drivers.

The age of the respondent is directly related to the behavioural pattern. For example, a higher number of individuals at the later age-groups seem to admit having a particular health problem. It is to be expected that health deteriorates with advancement in age and the survey confirms the expectation. Also, individuals at older generations seem to understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. The claim on healthy lifestyles is approved by the statistics that show a higher number of individuals above thirty-five years eating a healthy diet. Also, individuals past the age of thirty-five years reported a relatively lower number for those taking drugs. The rate of body exercise is higher for the older age groups and can be attributed to the desire to maintain healthy lifestyles. The higher chances of developing health problems at advanced ages could also be a reason for individuals to opt for healthy lifestyle practices.

The results indicate that a change in behavioural patterns is critical in the maintenance of healthy lifestyles. For example, it is evident that a more significant number of individuals taking alcohol and smoking cigarettes reported a lower number when it came to self-acceptance of living a healthy lifestyle. The feeling that one is doing the wrong thing is always associated with a lack of self-confidence and could affect the kind of lifestyle to be chosen. Some behaviours like alcohol need to be abandoned since the study has proven that there is a likelihood that poor behaviour can lead to much costly behaviour. According to (Begg, D. J., & Langley, J. D, 2012) for example; alcohol consumption leads to impaired judgment and individuals tend to stop wearing seatbelts while driving. The impacts of not wearing belts are much costly compared to alcohol consumption and thus abandoning alcohol consumption saves on costs due to not wearing seatbelts.

In conclusion, the choice to lead a particular lifestyle as much is the individual’s, is affected by the surroundings. The interview contacted at the beginning of this study confirms several claims including the relationship between the age of an individual and the behavioural patterns. The interview, however, is not free from extreme cases, for example where individuals failed to give a response to some questions. The trends in behavioural patterns do not seem much surprising since the statistics show a trend similar to expectations. The decision to change one’s lifestyle is left in the hands of the individual.

References

Begg, D. J., & Langley, J. D. (2012). Seat-belt use and related behaviors among young adults.      Journal of Safety Research, . 31(4), 211-220.

Robins L., & Przybeck R. (2011). Age of onset of drug use as a factor in drug and other   disorders. NIDA Res Monogr,. 56, 178-192.