Behavior and Lifestyle Risk Factors

Cardiovascular disease can be caused by several behavioral and lifestyle risk factors. These risk factors include inactivity, sedentary behaviors, poor diet quality, stress, substance use, alcohol use, tobacco use, and poor sleep quality. Understanding of these risk factors and their relationship to increased risk for cardiovascular disease has been studied for decades, but new connections and correlations are being discovered with emerging research. The primary goal of this chapter is to understand the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease across the lifespan.