Smoking, drinking and overeating aren't just bad for your health. They're bad for your sex life, too. In fact, they can cause your sex life to totally vanish.

A study of over 5,000 Danish men and women found that several unhealthy lifestyle habits greatly lowered their chance of even having a sexual partner. For people who did have a sexual partner, unhealthy habits increased the chance of sexual dysfunction such as impotence or a lack of orgasm.

This could lead to a totally new approach to wellness and public health… Overindulge in food or drugs or put off exercising and sex may soon be nothing but a memory.

The risk of not having a partner-related sex life rose up to 78% in men and 91% in women with unhealthy habits or weight. And those who did have a sex life weren't having the greatest sex, either.

Specifically, the study found that men and women who were obese, had a large waistline or were physically inactive, as well as women who smoked tobacco, were significantly more likely to have been sexually inactive in the previous year.

Among sexually active men, those who were obese or underweight, had a large waistline, were physically inactive, consumed large amounts of alcohol, smoked tobacco or used hard drugs were much more likely to exhibit one or more type of sexual dysfunction. Among sexually active women, the only unhealthy habit surveyed that was associated with sexual dysfunction was that of hashish use and anorgasmia (difficulty or inability to reach climax).

Sexual dysfunction rose by more than 800% in men who used hard drugs.

The sexual problems uncovered by the study were found in both young and old. Participant age ranged from 16 to 97.

The effects of bad habits don't all wait till later in life to sneak up on you. They could be ruining your sex life right now.

This could lead to a totally new approach to wellness and public health. Nowadays, people are warned not to smoke, drink, etc. because doing so will cause serious health problems and lead to an earlier death. But this approach lacks immediacy and may not resonate well with people who are outwardly healthy, particularly young people. Ill health may be years away. And death is a shadowy and distant concept that can be pushed to the fringes of the mind or out of the mind entirely.

Sex, on the other hand, is always on some people's minds and much harder to banish from conscious thought. But overindulge in food or drugs or put off exercising and sex may soon be nothing but a memory. Definitely something to think about before reaching for that next doughnut or cigarette.

An advance version of an article on the study was published online by The Journal of Sexual Medicine on May 13, 2011. The article will appear in a future issue of the journal.