You’ve probably already guessed but healthy habits make a huge difference. People who met the criteria from my previous article on the 4 habit areas enjoyed significantly longer lives than those who had none: 14 years for women and 12 years for men.
People who had none of these habits were far more likely to die prematurely from cancer or cardiovascular disease, it’s scary stuff folks so let’s make sure we make the extra effort this year!
The study that the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s teams did calculated life expectancy by how many of the 4 healthy habits people had from last weeks article.
Just one healthy habit (and it didn’t matter which one)… just one… extended life expectancy by two years in men and women… 2 years might not seem like a lot but if you have small children growing up, it could be life changing… literally!
Not surprisingly, the more healthy habits people had, the longer their lifespan. This is one of those situations where I wish I could reprint their graphs for you, because they’re so interesting! The study is widely available online here in the US so make sure to check it out.
A 2017 study using data from the Health and Retirement Study found that people 50 and over who were a healthy weight, had never smoked, and drank alcohol in moderation lived on average 7 years longer. 7 years!
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 like having a poor diet, not exercising, obesity or being overweight, excessive alcohol intake, and smoking.
It’s time to change! www.welllifehealth.com