A 2009 poll of 2,000 Americans by GE Healthcare, the Cleveland Clinic and Ochsner Health System in New Orleans is an elegant example of optimism bias at work. More than half the respondents said other people’s health “was going in the wrong direction,” compared with 17 percent who characterized their own health that way.

Only one-quarter to one-third knew their personal basic health numbers – body-mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood-glucose level – yet the majority said keeping those numbers in a good range was important to health.

About 95 percent said regular physician checkups were important, but 70 percent admitted avoiding their doctors by hoping health problems would go away or asking a friend for medical advice.

Pollsters asked respondents to grade their health behaviors, and asked doctors to do the same. One out of 3 gave themselves an “A” for nutrition, exercise and personal health management. More than 90 percent of the doctors, however, graded patients “C” or worse on these.

Let someone else foot the bill

Another survey reflected Americans’ strong sense of personal control over their health, but also their reluctance to accept financial responsibility for it.

The Vitality Group surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. adults in 2008. About 82 percent said they alone were responsible for their health. However, 44 percent said they should bear no responsibility for paying for their health care, while 56 percent thought they should pick up part of the cost. Six out of 10 thought their employer should be partially responsible, and about one-half believed the government should pick up the tab.

According to a new study, people who arrive at middle age without cardiovascular risks nearly make themselves bulletproof for the rest of their lives.

A non-smoking 45-year-old man with normal blood pressure and cholesterol, and no diabetes, has less than a 2 percent chance of having a heart attack or stroke for the rest of his life.

The researchers looked at studies that totaled more than a quarter of a million people. Unfortunately, only 5 percent of the participants had the aforementioned optimal cardiovascular profile.

The study was another piece of evidence of how elusive good health habits are in the U.S.

Four behaviors determine most chronic disease and premature death – cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, excess weight and binge drinking of alcohol. If people made the right decisions about those four, health-care costs would recede as a public-policy ticking time bomb and Americans’ quality of life would soar.

Do not smoke. Eat at least five daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Drink moderately at most. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Sounds easy enough. But only 3 percent of Americans do all four.

Those with the American Heart Association ideal cardiovascular profile are even rarer. According to University of Pittsburgh researchers, there are seven factors: body mass index of less than 25; untreated cholesterol under 200; blood pressure below 120/80; fasting blood sugar level below 100; exceeds the government-recommended physical activity guidelines, and follows a heart-healthy diet. Of 1,933 people between the ages of 45 and 75, only one met all seven conditions. Less than 10 percent met five or more of the criteria.

According to a just-released study in the journal Cancer, many lung and colorectal cancer patients continue to smoke even after their diagnoses. Nearly 40 percent of lung patients were smokers when they received their diagnosis and 14 percent were still smoking five months later. The similar statistics for colorectal cancer were 14 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

It is easy to shake a judgmental finger at people who continue destructive health habits after chronic-condition diagnoses. However, it underscores that change is difficult even after life-altering chronic conditions.

At least 40 percent of smokers who survive a heart attack continue to smoke a year later. In a group of more than 1,200 overweight heart-attack survivors, the average weight loss was .2 percent. That is less than a one-pound loss for a 220-pound man.

In another study, 884 of 2,500 heart-attack patients had eaten fast food at least once a week one month before the attack. Nearly all receive dietary advice before leaving the hospital. Three months later, 503 were still eating fast food at least once a week.

How are those New Year’s resolutions coming along?

Special K, which marked January 2 National Weigh-in Day, surveyed women on weight management. An astounding two-thirds of women started or renewed a weight management plan on January 1. About half also do so for a special event, and that rises to 57 percent in the spring apparently to get “bathing-suit ready.”

Unfortunately, polls show that about 25 percent have abandoned their resolutions by now, and only 10 percent will be sticking with the resolutions a year from now. Gyms and many self-help entrepreneurs build their business models on recycled resolutions.