Epidemiological research progress on association between meteorological factors and health-related behaviors

Climate change is a significant environmental concern in the 21st century. It can directly and indirectly affect public health, making it a major public health problem. This review focused on the relationship between meteorological factors and health-related behaviors such as physical activity, sleep, dietary behavior, and social contact behavior. The results indicated that meteorological factors such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and rainfall are associated with the four health behaviors. Physical activity levels are negatively associated with temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall. Sleep quality tends to decrease under extreme temperatures and extreme weather events. Dietary behavior is influenced by high and low temperatures, low pressure, and daylight duration, which in turn affects appetite and food intake. Social contact frequency decreases in response to extreme temperatures, increased rainfall, and extreme weather events. However, there are differences in the strength and direction of the associations between meteorological factors and health-related behaviors in various studies. Research on the combined effects of multiple meteorological factors exposure on health-related behaviors is rare, and the mechanisms underlying the associations are unclear. Therefore, there is a need for more multi-center, large-scale studies to explore the biological and behavioral mechanisms behind these associations, which will help clarify the complex effects of meteorological factors on human health behaviors and provide scientific evidence for policy-making, thereby mitigating the negative impact of climate change on public health.