title: Editorial: 2nd Special Issue on behavior change, health, and health disparities.
abstract: This Special Issue of Preventive Medicine (PM) is the 2nd that we have organized on behavior change, health, and health disparities. This is a topic of fundamental importance to improving population health in the U.S. and other industrialized countries that are trying to more effectively manage chronic health conditions. There is broad scientific consensus that personal behavior patterns such as cigarette smoking, other substance abuse, and physical inactivity/obesity are among the most important modifiable causes of chronic disease and its adverse impacts on population health. As such behavior change needs to be a key component of improving population health. There is also broad agreement that while these problems extend across socioeconomic strata, they are overrepresented among more economically disadvantaged populations and contribute directly to the growing problem of health disparities. Hence, behavior change represents an essential step in curtailing that unsettling problem as well. In this 2nd Special Issue, we devote considerable space to the current U.S. prescription opioid addiction epidemic, a crisis that was not addressed in the prior Special Issue. We also continue to devote attention to the two largest contributors to preventable disease and premature death, cigarette smoking and physical inactivity/obesity as well as risks of co-occurrence of these unhealthy behavior patterns. Across each of these topics we included contributions from highly accomplished policy makers and scientists to acquaint readers with recent accomplishments as well as remaining knowledge gaps and challenges to effectively managing these important chronic health problems.
authors.affiliation: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychological Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA. Electronic address: Stephen.Higgins@uvm.edu.
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000009:adverse effects; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019049:Developed Countries; D015438:Health Behavior; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control; D011159:Population Surveillance; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid
keywords: Behavior change; Behavioral economics; Chronic health conditions; Cigarette smoking; Health disparities; Lifestyle; Obesity; Prescription opioid abuse; Tobacco use