RESUMEN
Health counselling as a part of the family doctor's practice includes the influence of health behaviour on the state of health. Health behaviour is transmitted by relational persons within everyday social groups. It depends on the scale of values and norms of behaviour within a group and is modified by individual needs. Vital social contacts (family and relational persons) have a higher value than health and serve-depending on the structure of personality-as a motivation of a health-promoting lifestyle. The family doctors strategies of intervention are aimed at winning relational persons, group leaders and local personalities to encourage health promotion and thus achieving that a healthful lifestyle is supported by the public opinion and becomes the social standard.