title: Health and life style-related determinants of survival rate in the male residents of the city of Łódź.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The article presents a selected part of an analysis of health- and lifestyle-related determinants of the longevity of male residents of the city of Łódź. The WHO strategy for the European region assumes that the term' lifestyle' refers to the way of life based on the association between conditions of life understood in a broad sense and individual patterns of behaviour determined by socio-cultural factors and individual features. On this basis, the aim of this study is to identify the multiple statistical relationships on the mortality of men living in Łódź, particularly the influence of the following variables on the probability of survival: age, subjective health assessment, nutritional habits, alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample (1004 respondents) was selected, and the study was carried out, based on the standards of the CINDI WHO Programme. The investigations included socio-demographic data, health status, lifestyle and anthropometric measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the results of the first-study performed in Poland of the longevity of men with identified risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, it has been found that: 1) Tobacco smoking has a negative influence on male longevity; 2) Alcohol consumed in moderate amounts favours male longevity; 3) The level of physical activity observed among the studied men was too low to affect longevity; 4) A diet rich in fish and consumption of yellow cheese are positive predictors of longevity, while additional use of table salt at meals and consumption of sweets (cakes) are negative ones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Risky lifestyles and a reluctance to abandon them are responsible for a shorter lifespan among men in Poland. Reducing this difference between women and men is a real challenge for public health professionals and preventive medicine specialists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Medical Statistics, Medical University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland, janusz.smigielski@umed.lodz.pl.
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smigielski
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bielecki
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drygas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000401:mortality; D004032:Diet / Q000401:mortality; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012907:Smoking / Q000401:mortality; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*