Some keep a distance from unhealthy acts

BAD GASTEIN, Austria, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- There is a stigma against unhealthy behavior globally, with many people distancing themselves from those who engage in such behaviors, a U.S. survey indicates.

Nancy Turett -- global president, health, of Edelman, a public relations firm based in San Francisco -- said The Edelman Health Barometer global survey, conducted by Edelman's research firm StrategyOne consisted of online and face-to-face interviews.

The survey of 15,165 adults was conducted June 10-July 26 in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in Brazil, China, India and Mexico.

Nearly one third of people -- predominantly those with healthier behaviors -- tend to distance themselves from friends who engage in unhealthy behaviors. Forty-four percent say they do not factor health into their social interactions but this group tends to exhibit less healthy behavior and consume less health information, and is least likely to sustain healthy behavior change when they try, the survey said.

More than half of the global public engages in at least one negative health behavior, such as poor nutrition, lack of exercise or tobacco use, Turett said.

Though 62 percent of respondents said they tried to change a negative health behavior, half failed. A lack of ongoing support, from friends, family or other resources contributed to an inability to make healthy changes stick, Turett said.

The findings were presented at the 14th European Health Forum in Bad Gastein, Austria.