The lifestyle choices that people make in relation to areas such as alcohol consumption, diet and smoking have the potential to seriously affect their health, with long-term conditions such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes mellitus potentially resulting in a suboptimal quality of life for individuals and incurring significant costs in terms of healthcare resources. Health promotion and preventing ill health are priorities for UK healthcare services. All nurses have a duty to continuously update their knowledge and expertise to support patients undertaking lifestyle behaviour change. This article considers practical methods that nurses can use to undertake this essential role, as well as discussing public health policy in this area.