Health behaviour

There is evidence on the importance of health behaviour such as non-smoking, moderate alcohol consumption and moderate physical activity, as well as weight control, to lower mortality and improve functional capacity, also among elderly (Adams et al. 1990; Davis et al. 1994). Further, we know that improving these factors brings health benefits (Johansson and Sundqvist 1999). The SHARE project provides an excellent opportunity to study the prevalence and associations of health behaviours among the ageing European population. This contribution describes the prevalence of health behaviour such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity, and also body-mass-index among men and women, different age groups and different socio-economic groups in 10 SHARE countries.