'Green snake bitten': Drinking, health lifestyles, social structure, and health in post-Soviet Russia

In the years after economic and political transition, post-Soviet Russia experienced severe health declines unprecedented in modern history. This study attempted to understand this phenomenon within a sociological theory of lifestyle and the conceptual frameworks of Weber's life choices and life chances and Bourdieu's habitus and praxis. Specifically, this research tested the relative effects of structural constraints (income, education, gender, and age) and individual lifestyle behaviors (drinking, smoking, and nutrition) on the mortality and morbidity of a nationally representative sample of Russian adults. Individual behaviors of smoking, drinking, and nutrition (life choices) were not as influential as structural variables (life chances) in predicting mortality. Specifically, gender was a key variable in the models. The relationship between gender and lifestyle behaviors showed a dangerous trend toward heavy consumption of alcohol and cigarettes among a younger cohort of women. This is discussed within feminist theory of gender and power.