Healthy Families and Health Behaviors

Health behaviors are influenced by the family in multiple ways. In addition to genetic predispositions, family members learn health behavior through modeling, and engagement in many health behaviors (including risk behaviors, health protective behaviors, and illness management) is related to the quality of relationships among family members. Individual health habits are often consistent across family members in generally healthy families (e.g., unaffected by chronic illness). Among married couples, consumption of dietary fat, alcohol use, smoking behavior, ...