ST. LOUIS– 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," said lead author Neha Pathak, MD, FACP, DipABLM. "Lifestyle medicine addresses the root causes of chronic disease while offering important co-benefits for community and planetary well-being."
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."
Read the full position statement here .
About ACLM®
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the nation's medical professional society building the infrastructure to scale lifestyle medicine as the new standard of care. ACLM translates evidence-based lifestyle interventions into education, certification, and implementation, equipping physicians, healthcare professionals, and systems of care to treat the root causes of chronic disease. Since 2004, ACLM has trained more than 100,000 health professionals and made more than 1.75 million hours of accredited continuing education available through courses and conferences for physicians and health professionals. With hundreds of institutional partners worldwide, ACLM is helping healthcare move from a system designed to manage disease to one capable of restoring health.
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
Lifestyle Medicine for Personal and Planetary Health: A Position Statement From the American College of Lifestyle Medicine
21-Sep-2026