A large, multicohort study has aimed to find out which lifestyle factors and factor combinations are associated with the most years free of chronic disease. Its findings establish that body weight and a few other key factors are closely tied to staying healthier for longer.
One of the main questions that has preoccupied researchers and healthcare professionals for many years is: How can people stay as healthy as possible well into old age?
There is no straightforward answer to that question, as numerous factors — some of them nonmodifiable — contribute to a person’s state of health.
However, there may be some rough guidelines that individuals could pay attention to in their quest for wellness.
There are some lifestyle factors that are associated with and may influence a person’s state of health. These include diet, body weight, sleep hygiene, level of physical activity, and the use of substances such as alcohol and tobacco.
A new multicohort study — the findings of which appear in JAMA Internal Medicine — has analyzed a large amount of data to assess which lifestyle profiles and modifiable factors are associated with the most years lived free of chronic diseases. The paper’s first author is Solja Nyberg, Ph.D., from the University of Helsinki in Finland.
The scientists based their research on data collected via 12 different European studies.
Initially, the investigation included a total of 139,380 participants. However, after excluding some people for whom they did not have all the relevant data, the researchers ended up analyzing information collected from 116,043 participant