Bronfenbrenner's (1974) framework is an ecological systems theory which recognizes the need to consider multiple levels of interacting influences on a person's development, including family, community and greater culture. Bronfenbrenner described the ecological environment as being composed of systems at five different levels:

1. The microsystem: contains relations between the individual and the immediate environment surrounding the individual, such as the home, school and workplace (Bronfenbrenner 1977).
2. The mesosystem: comprises interrelations between major settings containing an individual, such as relations between home and school, home and peer-groups, etc. (Bronfenbrenner 1977).
3. The exosystem: embraces social structuresmajor institutions of the societysuch as the world of work, the mass media and public agencies.
4. The macrosystem: consists of the blueprints of a particular society such as laws and regulations, unprinted rules and norms (Bronfenbrenner 1978).
5. The chronosystem: focuses on the role of time including major historical events and trends (politics, wars, shifts in cultural expectations, technological advances) and personal experiences like major life transitions or events (moves, family restructuring, friend groups, body changes, etc.)and the impact based on the age when they occurred.

Health related behaviors (such as physical activity, food choices, smoking, drug use, sleep, etc.). are actions that can directly affect health outcomes. When understanding causes of health outcomes, we usually describe those internal to a person ("lazy," "dedicated" "busy") For example, biological factors or sedentary life styles are often examined as causes for a person's weight. However, current trends reflect growing interest in how broader contextual factors contribute to health-related behaviors.

We will focus on applying Bronfenbrenner's model to better understand the multilayered factors (environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship) interacting and affecting a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.

For each of the 5 layers of the model discuss 1-2 elements that can be identified which could impact health-related behaviors. Describe yourself, a person you know, or general ideas but be specific as possible in your responses-, do not say "a neighborhood", but what about that neighborhood specifically that could impact health behaviors.