ABSTRACT
In this opening chapter, we set the context within which health practitioners are working and individuals are making choices about how they behave. We look historically at the socio-cultural climate in which we all operate, considering how and why lifestyle diseases and related behaviours have become so pertinent for us in the twenty-first century. We also consider the political imperative to encourage individual responsibility for long-term health and we reflect on the environmental influences over twenty-first century lifestyles.
