![]() And the list of supporting research goes on. A 2012 mega-analysis of 15 international studies that included over 500,000 participants found that over half of premature deaths were due to unhealthy lifestyle factors such as poor diet, inactivity, obesity, excessive alcohol intake, and smoking. A 2017 study using data from the Health and Retirement Study found that people 50 and older who were normal weight, had never smoked, and drank alcohol in moderation lived on average seven years longer. And, it confirms prior similar research - a lot of prior similar research. Check out Graph B, "Estimated life expectancy at age 50 according to the number of low-risk factors.") (But if you're very curious, the article is available online, and the graphs are on page 7. This is one of those situations where I wish I could reprint their graphs for you, because they're so cool. Not surprisingly, the more healthy habits people had, the longer their lifespan. Just one healthy habit (and it didn't matter which one) … just one… extended life expectancy by two years in men and women. Study investigators also calculated life expectancy by how many of these five healthy habits people had. People who had none of these habits were far more likely to die prematurely from cancer or cardiovascular disease. According to this analysis, people who met criteria for all five habits enjoyed significantly, impressively longer lives than those who had none: 14 years for women and 12 years for men (if they had these habits at age 50). Does a healthy lifestyle make a difference?Īs it turns out, healthy habits make a big difference. Researchers also looked at data on age, ethnicity, and medication use, as well as comparison data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research. That's 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. Generally, one drink contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol. Moderate alcohol intake, which was measured as between 5 and 15 grams per day for women, and 5 to 30 grams per day for men. "Healthy" here meant never having smoked.ĥ. Smoking, well, there is no healthy amount of smoking. Healthy body weight, defined as a normal body mass index (BMI), which is between 18.5 and 24.9.Ĥ. ![]() Healthy physical activity level, which was measured as at least 30 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity daily.ģ. Healthy diet, which was calculated and rated based on the reported intake of healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids, and unhealthy foods like red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fat, and sodium.Ģ. Here is how these healthy habits were defined and measured:ġ. These five areas were chosen because prior studies have shown them to have a large impact on risk of premature death. The researchers looked at NHS and HPFS data on diet, physical activity, body weight, smoking, and alcohol consumption that had been collected from regularly administered, validated questionnaires. This is over 120,000 participants, 34 years of data for women, and 28 years of data for men. The HPFS included over 40,000 men and followed them from 1986 to 2014. The NHS included over 78,000 women and followed them from 1980 to 2014. This means that they had data on a huge number of people over a very long period of time. Chan School of Public Health conducted a massive study of the impact of health habits on life expectancy, using data from the well-known Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). Maybe those of us in healthcare have been looking at it all wrong, for too long. How is it that the United States spends the most money on healthcare, and yet still has the one of the lowest life expectancies of all developed nations? (To be specific: $9,400 per capita, 79 years, and 31st.)
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