title: Healthy lifestyle behaviors and all-cause mortality among adults in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the links between three fundamental healthy lifestyle behaviors (not smoking, healthy diet, and adequate physical activity) and all-cause mortality in a national sample of adults in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from 8375 U.S. participants aged ≥ 20 years of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 who were followed through 2006.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a mean follow-up of 5.7 years, 745 deaths occurred. Compared with their counterparts, the risk for all-cause mortality was reduced by 56% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 35%-70%) among adults who were nonsmokers, 47% (95% CI: 36%, 57%) among adults who were physically active, and 26% (95% CI: 4%, 42%) among adults who consumed a healthy diet. Compared with participants who had no healthy behaviors, the risk decreased progressively as the number of healthy behaviors increased. Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval were 0.60 (0.38, 0.95), 0.45 (0.30, 0.67), and 0.18 (0.11, 0.29) for 1, 2, and 3 healthy behaviors, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adults who do not smoke, consume a healthy diet, and engage in sufficient physical activity can substantially reduce their risk for early death.
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. eford@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Earl S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Manuela M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: Heiner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boeing
authors.forename: Chaoyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Capewell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology