Healthy Lifestyle and Centenarian Longevity

New research suggests that making healthy choices can improve your chances of living a long life, even if you’re already in your eighties. A team led by Yaqi Li, Ph.D., from Fudan University in China, investigated the link between healthy habits and the likelihood of reaching 100 years old among people 80 and above in China. Their findings were published online on June 20 in JAMA Network Open (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Healthy Lifestyle and the Likelihood of Becoming a Centenarian

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Habits of Long-Lived Individuals

The researchers used data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, which included information on 5,222 participants. They looked at the participants’ lifestyles using a scoring system called the Healthy Lifestyle Score-100 (HLS-100). This score considered factors such as diet, exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

The researchers then followed the participants for a median of five years to see how many lived to be 100.

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Healthy Habits Linked to Increased Centenarian Rate

The study found that those with the highest HLS-100 scores (indicating the healthiest lifestyles) were more likely to reach 100 compared to those with the lowest scores. This association remained even when the researchers considered factors like pre-existing health conditions, physical and mental abilities, and overall well-being.

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The Importance of Healthy Aging

"This study suggests that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important even at older ages," said Dr. Li. "Encouraging older adults to adopt healthy behaviors could be a key strategy for promoting healthy aging and a longer lifespan."

These findings highlight the potential benefits of prioritizing healthy habits throughout life, even later in life.

Reference:

1. Healthy Lifestyle and the Likelihood of Becoming a Centenarian - (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820220)

Source-Medindia