Healthy habits 'deliver extra disease-free decade'

[Tekward]

Maybe this is obvious, but maybe this will motivate for change:

Healthy lifestyle and life expectancy free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study - 2020

Objective To examine how a healthy lifestyle is related to life expectancy that is free from major chronic diseases.
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Design Prospective cohort study.
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Setting and participants The Nurses’ Health Study (1980-2014; n=73 196) and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2014; n=38 366).
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Main exposures Five low risk lifestyle factors: never smoking, body mass index 18.5-24.9, moderate to vigorous physical activity (≥30 minutes/day), moderate alcohol intake (women: 5-15 g/day; men 5-30 g/day), and a higher diet quality score (upper 40%).
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Main outcome Life expectancy free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.
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Results The life expectancy free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer at age 50 was 23.7 years (95% confidence interval 22.6 to 24.7) for women who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors, in contrast to 34.4 years (33.1 to 35.5) for women who adopted four or five low risk factors. At age 50, the life expectancy free of any of these chronic diseases was 23.5 (22.3 to 24.7) years among men who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors and 31.1 (29.5 to 32.5) years in men who adopted four or five low risk lifestyle factors. For current male smokers who smoked heavily (≥15 cigarettes/day) or obese men and women (body mass index ≥30), their disease-free life expectancies accounted for the lowest proportion (≤75%) of total life expectancy at age 50.
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Conclusion Adherence to a healthy lifestyle at mid-life is associated with a longer life expectancy free of major chronic diseases.
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[harley]

Conclusion Adherence to a healthy lifestyle at mid-life is associated with a longer life expectancy free of major chronic diseases.

I'm waiting for the study that shows that: Adherence to crappy lifestyle choices is associated with dying young but with a smile on your face.

 

[ckelly78z]

What exactly is a "Higher diet quality score" (upper 40%) ? I have been making a conscious effort to eat more fruit/yogurt, and less red meat to try to keep my kidney function at healthy levels...per my hypertension specialist.

 

[Tekward]

What exactly is a "Higher diet quality score" (upper 40%) ? I have been making a conscious effort to eat more fruit/yogurt, and less red meat to try to keep my kidney function at healthy levels...per my hypertension specialist.

From the study (to be helpful):
Modifiable lifestyle factors including smoking, physical activity, alcohol use, body weight, and diet quality affect both total life expectancy and incidence of chronic diseases.

 

[braumeister]

"Diet quality score" appears to be based on self-reported answers to a questionnaire of the type "During the past week, how much _______ did you eat?"

So not a terribly valuable criterion IMHO.

 

[ncbill]

I need to drink more...nowhere near the "moderate" consumption all these studies seem to recommend.