The Cost of Choices: Economic Implications of Lifestyle-Driven Disorders

Authors

  • Zoya Adrees MPhil Scholar, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
  • Hasan Zulfiqar Lecturer, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
  • Neelam Rana Lecturer, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
  • Abrar Hassan MPhil Scholar, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17073826

Keywords:

Lifestyle Disorders, Lifestyle risk factors, Economic cost

Abstract

Purpose: This paper examined the economic burden borne by adults through major lifestyle risk factors. It clarifies the distinction and association between risk factors and lifestyle diseases (non-communicable diseases) while recommending actionable strategies for their prevention.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Firstly, a theoretical framework was made to clear distinctions between risk factors and diseases. Secondly, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 200 respondents from the Faisalabad region using structured questionnaires. The data collected information on health conditions, socioeconomic characteristics, and the cost of illness on the individual economy. A quantitative analytical framework was applied, using descriptive statistics to assess associations between different risk factors and macroeconomic indicators.

Implications/Originality/Value: Results indicated that lifestyle risk factors have greater influence on an individual’s health and personal economy. Moreover, it concluded that there is a strong relationship between lifestyle disorders, their risk factors, and the personal economy of the individuals.

References

Ahmad, A. (2020). Eating habits and food choices at work among working women in the banking sector in Islamabad, Pakistan. Rawal Medical Journal, 45(3), 698–701

Ahsan, A., Handika, R., Qureshi, F., Martokoesoemo, D. R. S., Hindriyani, M., Amalia, N., & Mariz, K. (2022). Does tobacco affect economy? Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention: APJCP, 23(6), 1873. http://doi.org/10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.6.1873.

Alt, K. W., Al-Ahmad, A., & Woelber, J. P. (2022). Nutrition and health in human evolution–past to present. Nutrients, 14(17), 3594. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14173594

Arab, A., Khorvash, F., Kazemi, M., Heidari, Z., & Askari G. (2022). Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet on clinical, quality of life and mental health outcomes in women with migraine: A randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Nutrition, 128(8), 1535-1544. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000711452100444X

Bari, S & Jabeen, R. (2020). Soft power: An invasion to Pakistani culture. Al Tafseer-Biannual Journal, 35(1).

Chung, A., Vieira, D., Donley, T., Tan, N., Jean-Louis G. Gouley., K.K & Seixas, A. (2021). Adolescent peer influence on eating behaviors via social media: scoping review. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(6), e19697. http://doi.org/10.2196/19697

Duarte Junior, M. A., Pintos Carrillo, S., Martínez-Gómez, D., Sotos Prieto, M., Rodríguez-Artalejo, F., & Cabanas Sánchez, V. (2024). Lifestyle behaviors, social and economic disadvantages, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: results from the US National Health Interview Survey. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1297060. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1297060

Ghosh, P., & Islam, M.M. (2023). Understanding the Driving Reasons of Diabetes: Urban vs Rural. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013211

Hanif, M. K., Fan, Y., Wang, L., Jiang, H., Li, Z., Ma, M., & Ma, M. (2022). Dietary habits of patients with coronary artery disease: A case-control study from Pakistan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), 8635. ; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148635

Hudaib, M., Hussain, L., Nazim, L., Mohi Uddin, S., Jamil, M.U., Bha, S.Q., & Eljack, M.M.F. (2024). Understanding childhood obesity in Pakistan: exploring the knowledge, attitudes, practices of mothers, and influential factors. A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Public Health 12, 1475455. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1475455

Ikram, M., Shahbaz, H.M., Ahmed, W., Khan, Z., Tahir, S.K., & Akram, K. (2024). Higher Intakes of Soft Drinks Are Associated With Anxiety, Depression, and Bone Mineral Density Among University Students. Topics in Clinical Nutrition, 39(1), 33-45. http://doi.org/10.1097/TIN.0000000000000356

Joya, A. M., Manzoor, I., Faraz, A., Batool A., & Nazir, A. (2020). Comparison of Body Mass Index (BMI) and its relationship with junk food in medical and nonmedical students in Lahore, Pakistan. Br J Pharm Med Res 5(5), 2587-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.06.004

Kazi, R. N. A., El-Kashif, M.M.L., & Ahsan, S.M. (2020). Prevalence of salt rich fast food consumption: A focus on physical activity and incidence of hypertension among female students of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 27(10), 2669-2673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.06.004

Kazibwe, J., Tran, P. B., & Annerstedt, K. S. (2021). The household financial burden of non-communicable diseases in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Health research policy and systems, 19(1), 96. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-021-00732-y

Khan, S., Zaheer, S., & Safdar, N. F. (2019). Determinants of stunting, underweight, and wasting among children under five years of age: Evidence from the 2012–2013 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6688-2

Kumar, N., & Singh, U. (2024). SDG3, Good Health and Well–Being: Status, Achievement, and Yoga Strategies. In SDGs in the Asia and Pacific Region International Publishing, 1209-1241. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17463-6_21

Memon, J. A., Nasir, M., Nayab, D., Siddique, O., & Kishwar, S. (2024). Economic burden of tobacco use in Pakistan. Tobacco control, 33(Suppl 2), s101-s107. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2022-057726

Menon, G. R., Yadav, J., & John, D. (2022). Burden of non-communicable diseases and its associated economic costs in India. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 5(1), 100256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2022.100256

Mok, D., Bednarz Jr, J., Zieren, J., Ferguson, T., Glass, J., Smith, K., & Yonish, B. (2020). Double the prevalence of stage 2 hypertension readings in a small group of American pre-clinical medical students compared to young adults diagnosed with stage 2 hypertension in the United States, Cureus,12(3). http://doi.org/ 10.7759/cureus.7448

Murphy, A., Palafox, B., Walli-Attaei, M., Powell-Jackson, T., Rangarajan, S., Alhabib, K. F., ... & McKee, M. (2020). The household economic burden of non-communicable diseases in 18 countries. BMJ global health, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002040

Naveed, H. M., Hongxing, Y., Akhtar, M., Anwer, M.U., & Alemzero, D. (2020). The Impact of Customer Feedback on Organizational Health when Employee Empowerment works as a moderator: Evidence from Pakistani Fast Food Industry. Business and Economic Research, 10(3), 65-89. : https://doi.org/10.5296/ber.v10i3.17372

Nivukoski, U., Niemelä, M., Bloigu, A., Bloigu, R., Aalto, M., Laatikainen, T., & Niemelä, O. (2020). Combined effects of lifestyle risk factors on fatty liver index. BMC gastroenterology, 20, 1-10. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12876-020-01270-7.

Riaz, M., Shah, G., Asif, M., Shah, A., Adhikari, K., & Abu-Shaheen, A. (2021). Factors associated with hypertension in Pakistan: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 16(1), e0246085. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246085

Saqib, M., Asif, M., Zafar, Z., & Saddiqa, A. (2022). Financial and Economic factors of Globalization that Transform Eating Pattern in Pakistan. Harf-o-Sukhan, 6(2), 187-197.

Shebl, S., Abd Elhady, D., & Refaat, A. (2021). Economic and social factors affecting the purchasing power of customers in fast food restaurants (Applied in Marsa Matrouh City). Journal of Tourism, Hotels and Heritage, 2(1), 1-14. http://di.org 10.21608/SIS.2021.40346.1006

Skýbová, D., Šlachtová, H., Tomášková, H., Dalecká, A., & Ma?ar, R. (2021). Risk of chronic Diseases limiting longevity and healthy aging by lifestyle and socio-economic factors during the life-course–a narrative review. Medycyna Pracy, 72(5), 535-548. http://doi.org/10/13075/mp.5893.01139

Smit, C. R., Buijs, L., Van Woudenberg, T.J., Bevelander, K.E., & Buijzen, M. (2020). The impact of social media influencers on children’s dietary behaviors. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2975. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02975

Sobhani, S. R., Mortazavi, M., Kazemifar, M., & Azadbakht, L. (2021). The association between fast-food consumption with cardiovascular diseases risk factors and kidney function in patients with diabetic nephropathy. Journal of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Research, 13(3), 241. http://doi/10.34172/jcvtr.2021.42

Stamatakis, E., Owen, K. B., Shepherd, L., Drayton, B., Hamer, M., & Bauman, A. E. (2021). Is cohort representativeness passé? Poststratified associations of lifestyle risk factors with mortality in the UK Biobank. Epidemiology, 32(2), 179-188. http://doi/10.1097/EDE.0000000000001316

Tanveer, M., Hohmann, A., Roy, N., Zeba, A., Tanveer U., & Siener, M. (2022). The current prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity associated with demographic factors among Pakistan school-aged children and adolescents—An empirical cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), 11619. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811619

Uddin, R., Lee, E. Y., Khan, S. R., Tremblay, M. S., & Khan, A. (2020). Clustering of lifestyle risk factors for non-communicable diseases in 304,779 adolescents from 89 countries: A global perspective. Preventive medicine, 131, 105955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105955

Wang, B., Liu, L., Qiao, D., Xue, Y., Liu, X., Zhang, D., & Li, X. (2020). The association between frequency of away-from home meals and type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural Chinese adults: the Henan Rural Cohort Study. European Journal of Nutrition, 59, 3815-3825 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-020-02212-5

Woo, S., Yang, H., Kim, Y., Lim, H., Song H.J., & Park, K.H. (2022). Sedentary time and fast-food consumption associated with weight gain during COVID-19 lockdown in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity. Journal of Korean medical science, 37(12). https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e103

Zhu, Y., Duan, M. J., Riphagen, I. J., Minovic, I., Mierau, J. O., Carrero, J. J., ... & Dekker, L. H. (2021). Separate and combined effects of individual and neighbourhood socio-economic disadvantage on health-related lifestyle risk factors: A multilevel analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 50(6), 1959-1969. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab079

Downloads

Published

2025-09-07

How to Cite

Adrees, Z., Zulfiqar, H. ., Rana, N. ., & Hassan, A. . (2025). The Cost of Choices: Economic Implications of Lifestyle-Driven Disorders. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 45(3), 231-241. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17073826