Boston (HealthKnowItAll) - Fewer Americans are choosing to live healthy say the authors of a new report from the Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina.

The study was conducted to determine if Americans are realizing that health is important and eating a good diet and not drinking alcohol in excess are vital for good health.

The researchers analyzed the results of 2 large surveys conducted on American health, focusing on a group of people from 20 years ago, and a group from this current decade.

The researchers learned that although Americans know very well the benefits to living healthy, many still choose to live poorly, eating bad food and drinking heavily.

Rates of smoking remained the same for both study groups, rate of exercise dropped for the more current group, and rates of obesity rose sharply for this decade.

It is fair to say that if the same study is conducted in another decade from now, we would learn that the health of Americans is continuing to deteriorate as more Americans ignore healthy living options.

Source: HealthKnowItAll