ACLM position statement links lifestyle medicine to planetary health

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has released a new position statement asserting that lifestyle medicine offers a practical, evidence-based framework to address both the chronic disease epidemic and the growing environmental challenges affecting health worldwide.

Written by ACLM's Global Sustainability Committee, the paper highlights the interconnected threats posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, and the rising burden of chronic disease. The authors argue that many of today's most pressing health challenges stem from shared systemic drivers and require integrated solutions.

Human health depends on stable environmental systems that provide clean air, clean water, nutritious food, and safe communities. Lifestyle medicine addresses the root causes of chronic disease while offering important co-benefits for community and planetary well-being."

Neha Pathak, MD, FACP, DipABLM, lead author

The position statement emphasizes that lifestyle medicine's six pillars–optimal nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, connectedness, and avoidance of risky substances––can benefit both individual and environmental health. Plant-predominant dietary patterns, active transportation such as walking and cycling, and community-based health initiatives may simultaneously improve health outcomes while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and resource consumption.

The paper also notes that healthcare itself contributes significantly to environmental degradation, accounting for an estimated 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions while also generating large amounts of preventable, medical waste including chemical and plastic pollution. The authors argue that broader adoption of lifestyle medicine could help reduce demand for resource-intensive care by treating, reversing, and preventing chronic disease.

Among its recommendations, ACLM calls for integrating lifestyle medicine and planetary health principles into medical education, clinical practice, public health initiatives, and health policy. The organization says doing so can help create a prevention-focused healthcare system that advances resilience, sustainability, and long-term population health.

"Healthcare must evolve beyond simply managing disease," said ACLM Research Information Specialist Kathy Pollard, MS. "By embracing lifestyle medicine, we have an opportunity to improve health outcomes and restore health while helping safeguard the environmental systems on which future generations depend."