Introduction to a new book about health, lifestyle, and health promotion

Being healthy is much desired by all people. Disease and ill-health are not only ‘‘harvest by chance’’* many of the determinants of health are well known. We know from research that ill-health as well as the majority of chronic or longstanding diseases are related to unhealthy lifestyles, for example, smoking, wrong diet, physical inactivity, and exaggerated alcohol consumption. Today, we refer to these conditions as ‘‘welfareor lifestyle diseases.’’ People learn behaviors and habits*rather than those being innate*and these behaviors and habits can be affected by one’s own strength and also be replaced by other more health supporting ones. However, it is not as simple as it sounds to change one’s lifestyle, because it is commonly grounded in structural conditions as well as in gender, class, ethnicity, and sexuality. To change lifestyle, it is necessary to acquire more knowledge and enhance one’s awareness of the relationships between lifestyle and health. Factors that promote health can, for example, be to have a satisfying job and to enjoy economic stability or close social relations. Participation in cultural life also has health promoting effects, independent of earlier cultural habits. The aim of this book was to present a broad description of how people themselves, to a considerable extent, can affect their health in a positive direction by adopting a health promoting lifestyle. The authors are 25 teachers/researchers in Health Care Science at Halmstad University, Sweden. Health Care Science is defined by the authors as the science that studies factors and processes determining and predicting health in human beings, and which describes how people themselves perceive and prioritize their health, as well as the meaning of health in different cultures. The authors also expand Health Care Science to include the study of human beings in a holistic perspective. In individual-, groupand societal perspectives, the overriding aim of research in health care is to deepen the knowledge about conditions in society that can affect health in human beings. The book presents research-based knowledge about the relationships between different aspects lifestyles and health, for example, diet, physical activity, and smoking. The book also presents chapters on play, physical activity, participation, and influence as well as on socio-cultural and societal factors affecting a population’s health and lifestyle. In this way, the book interestingly and pedagogically reflects the complexity of health and lifestyle. The target group of the book is anybody interested in questions related to health and lifestyle and, perhaps not least, students in health-related areas. Since the book is in Swedish, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being wants to share some insight into its themes by publishing a number of the chapters in English.