In conclusion, health behaviors can directly affect health outcomes. Many health conditions are caused by risk behaviors, such as binge drinking, substance use, smoking, physical inactivity, or overeating. Health behavior change includes a variety of social, emotional, and cognitive factors. Some of these health risks and behaviors are inversely correlated with one another. Therefore, professionals must understand the principles and optimal set of factors that allow for the best prediction or explanation of health behavior change. Researchers have used common measures such as self-report measures to assess changes in unhealthy behaviors. Although significant progress has been made in the development of this measure, further revisions will be needed to produce a valid and reliable accounts and to eliminate dishonest reporting. Measuring health behavior change has been beneficial to public health and allows researchers and professionals to plan and evaluate interventions.