A clearer understanding of why individuals perform health behaviors might assist in the
development of interventions to help individuals gain health benefits. A variety of factors
have been found to account for individual differences in the performance of health behaviors.
Demographic variables show reliable associations with the performance of health behaviors.
For example, there is a curvilinear relationship between many health behaviors and age, with
high incidences of many health risking behaviors such as smoking in young adults and much
lower incidences in children and older adults (Blaxter 1990). Such behaviors also vary by
gender, with females being generally less likely to smoke, consume large amounts of alcohol,
engage in regular exercise, but more likely to monitor their diet, take vitamins and engage in
dental care (Waldron 1988). Differences by socioeconomic status and ethnic group are also
apparent for behaviors such as diet, exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking (e.g., Blaxter
1990) (see Socioeconomic Status and Health).