To examine the role of lifestyles in the subsequent development of renal damage, the association of smoking, drinking and physical activity with subsequent proteinuria was investigated utilizing a longitudinal study. The subjects were 7,701 males aged 20-84 years, who participated in health examinations at Aichi Prefectural Center of Health Care, Nagoya, Japan, both in 1989-1990 and 1992-1993, and who showed no proteinuria at the first examination. Lifestyles at the first examination were compared between 140 men with, and 7,561 men without, newly developed proteinuria at the second examination. Age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of lifestyle factors for proteinuria were computed, and further the ORs were adjusted for age, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose level and other covariates obtained using multiple logistic regression analysis. Major significant findings which emerged from the present study were as follows. (a) The greater the consumption of alcohol per day, the higher the risk of subsequent proteinuria (trend p = 0.003). Heavy drinkers who consumed more than 58 g of alcohol per day experienced an increased risk (OR relative to non-drinker: 2.52). (b) Those who exercised less than once a week, and those who avoided walking even a short distance were at an increased risk (OR: 1.46, 1.55, respectively). Heavy drinking and low physical activity were found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of subsequent proteinuria even after adjusting for the covariates. An increasing risk of subsequent proteinuria with number of cigarette smoked per day was observed by univariate and multivariate analysis but without statistical significance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)