West Virginia has America’s worst rate of cigarette smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. West Virginia also has the third-worst rate of overweight and obesity (after Mississippi and Alabama) — blubber caused by a fatty diet and lack of exercise.

Now, a disturbing new international study verifies that those West Virginia conditions kill people prematurely, erasing about 12 years of their lifespan.

Archives of Internal Medicine published results of long-term research in Britain. Nearly 5,000 adults were monitored since the 1980s. They were checked in four categories: (1) smoking tobacco, (2) getting less than two hours of physical activity per week, (3) eating vegetables and fruits fewer than three times daily, and (4) downing more than three alcoholic drinks per day for men and two for women.

Grimly, people with all those bad habits died at a rate almost four times worse than sensible adults who avoided the harmful habits. Lives were shortened an average of a dozen years.

‘‘Doing all four poor behaviors increased the risk of dying between three and four times,’’ lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik said. ‘‘Having all these poor behaviors had the same effect on risk of death as being 12 years older.’’

Smoking is the most lethal factor, the study found. Having only two of the unhealthy habits roughly doubled risk of dying younger.

This scientific finding carries a clear message: Sedentary people who drink too much, smoke, don’t eat correctly and don’t exercise are making themselves 12 years older, bringing early death, throwing away a large portion of their lives.

Taking care of themselves would bring the blessing of better health and longer years. ...

As we’ve said before, each person alone must decide whether to pursue healthy living. Government programs cannot do it for you. Every individual is responsible for his or her own behavior.