(George Citroner / Healthline) — We’d all like to live a long time in good health.
Now a recently published study has concluded there are lifestyle factors that can increase your odds of reaching an older age without chronic health issues.
There’s been plenty of research on lifestyle choices, such as smoking, physical activity, drinking habits, weight management, and diet, that affect our overall life span and likelihood of experiencing chronic diseases.
However, few studies have looked at how a combination of these factors relate to a long life free of disease.
“We wanted to see whether following a healthy diet and exercise can prolong life, not just life expectancy but life expectancy free of chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes,” Dr. Frank Hu, MPH, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Massachusetts and lead study author, told Healthline.
“Because we’re not just looking at life span but also health span, meaning that there are increased years of life free of chronic disease,” he said. (…)