Lifestyle medicine in medical education: benefits for patients, communities, and our future medical workforce
Author(s)
Naulls, Stephen Russell
Ogier, Anna
Baptista, Ana
Harvey, Christopher James
Pinder, Richard J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Lifestyle Medicine (LM) is an increasingly important aspect of modern medical practice. LM focuses on sleep, healthy eating, physical activity, mental wellbeing, and the socioeconomic determinants of health. In 2019, Imperial College London introduced the ‘Lifestyle Medicine and Prevention’ (LMAP) module to educate medical students on these areas within a broader framework of public health ethics and practice. We hypothesised that early LM education may enhance students’ insight into their own health and wellbeing. Of 364 first-year medical students invited to complete an end-of-module survey, 278 consented to share their data and 239 responded to the open-ended question analysed: ‘Has your LMAP learning encouraged you to change any of your health behaviours? Please explain how’. Responses were analysed thematically. Of 239 responses, 155 students (66%) reported changes in their health behaviours after the LMAP module, 57 (24%) reported no change, and 27 (10%) described early contemplation of change. Lifestyle Medicine education may encourage reflection and positive health behaviour change amongst medical students.
Date Issued
2026-01-21
Date Acceptance
2026-01-01
Citation
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2026
ISSN
1559-8276
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Journal / Book Title
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2026-01-21