Risking your health: causes, consequences, and interventions to prevent risky behaviors
A new World Bank report warns that risky behaviors –smoking, using illicit drugs, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets, and unsafe sex— are increasing globally and pose a growing threat to the health of individuals, particularly in developing countries. The report looks at how individual choices that lead to these behaviors are formed and reviews the effectiveness of interventions such as legislation, taxation, behavioral change campaigns, and cash transfers to combat them. Risking your Health: Causes, Consequences and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors concludes that legislation and taxation, for example, tend to be effective, especially when combined with strong enforcement mechanisms.