Association Between Attitude Toward a Healthy Lifestyle, Lifestyle Behaviors, Sociodemographic Characteristics, and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Ljubičić M, Sorić T, et al. • Nutrients • 2026
Attitude toward a healthy lifestyle is significantly associated with lifestyle behaviors, BMI, excess body weight, and self-rated health, highlighting the importance of psychological factors in promoting sustainable healthy lifestyles.
Key Findings
Results
The median attitude toward a healthy lifestyle score among Croatian adults was 52.0 (IQR = 10), corresponding to 62% of the maximum possible score.
The study administered the Attitudes toward a Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire to 570 Croatian adults between November and December 2025.
The sample consisted of adults in Croatia, assessed via a cross-sectional design.
The median score of 52.0 with an IQR of 10 suggests moderate but not high overall positive attitudes toward healthy lifestyles in this population.
Results
A more positive attitude toward a healthy lifestyle was significantly associated with a higher number of daily meals.
β = 0.16, p = 0.001 in multiple linear regression models.
The association was independent of other lifestyle behaviors and sociodemographic characteristics included in the model.
E-cigarette use was separately associated with fewer daily meals (β = -0.10, p = 0.025).
Results
A more positive attitude toward a healthy lifestyle was significantly associated with longer sleep duration.
β = 0.17, p < 0.001 in multiple linear regression models.
Longer sleep duration also independently increased the odds of excellent self-rated health (OR = 1.31, p = 0.014).
Sleep duration was included as one of the primary lifestyle behavior variables along with number of daily meals and sitting time.
Results
A more positive attitude toward a healthy lifestyle was significantly associated with lower sitting time.
β = -0.11, p = 0.010 in multiple linear regression models.
Sitting time was one of three primary lifestyle behavior variables assessed in the study.
The negative beta coefficient indicates that higher attitude scores corresponded to less time spent sitting.
Results
A more positive attitude toward a healthy lifestyle was significantly associated with lower BMI.
β = -0.24, p < 0.001, representing the strongest association among the lifestyle behavior variables examined.
A more positive attitude toward a healthy lifestyle was also associated with lower odds of excess body weight (OR = 0.92, p < 0.001) in binary logistic regression.
Both BMI as a continuous variable and excess body weight as a binary outcome showed significant inverse associations with attitude score.
Results
Smoking was negatively associated with attitude toward a healthy lifestyle.
β = -0.18, p < 0.001 in multiple linear regression models.
Both conventional smoking and e-cigarette use were examined as separate variables.
E-cigarette use was not directly associated with attitude toward a healthy lifestyle in the same model but was associated with fewer daily meals (β = -0.10, p = 0.025).
Results
Longer sleep duration was associated with increased odds of excellent self-rated health.
OR = 1.31, p = 0.014 in binary logistic regression.
Self-rated health was included as an outcome variable alongside BMI and excess body weight.
A more positive attitude toward a healthy lifestyle was also examined in relation to self-rated health as part of the study objectives.
What This Means
This research suggests that how positively a person feels about living a healthy lifestyle is meaningfully connected to several actual health behaviors and physical health outcomes. Among 570 Croatian adults surveyed in late 2025, those with more positive attitudes toward healthy living tended to eat more meals per day, sleep longer, sit less, and have lower body weight. Smokers tended to have less positive attitudes toward healthy living, and people who used e-cigarettes tended to eat fewer daily meals. These associations held even after accounting for other factors in the statistical models.
The study also found that sleeping longer was linked to a greater chance of rating one's own health as excellent, and that a more positive attitude toward healthy living was associated with lower odds of being overweight or obese. The average attitude score in this population was only about 62% of the highest possible score, suggesting considerable room for improvement in how favorably people view healthy living.
This research suggests that psychological attitudes — not just knowledge or access — may play an important role in whether people actually adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. Interventions aimed at improving health outcomes might benefit from addressing people's underlying attitudes and motivations toward healthy living, rather than focusing solely on providing health information or changing behaviors directly.
Ljubičić M, Sorić T, Gusar I, Vidaković Samaržija D, Ivković G, Pejdo A, et al.. (2026). Association Between Attitude Toward a Healthy Lifestyle, Lifestyle Behaviors, Sociodemographic Characteristics, and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study.. Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18030500