Live long and prosper — but only if you live healthily
Published: 18 Oct 2022
Copyright: imtmphoto
A new Singaporean study has found that older people who diligently keep to such healthy lifestyle habits enjoy good health as they age. It found that higher scores of the protective lifestyle factors were associated with a higher likelihood of healthy ageing and its various domains. Furthermore, improvement in lifestyle after midlife – defined as adhering to four or five recommended lifestyle factors –was also significantly associated with a higher likelihood of healthy ageing.
The study team, which included members from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, scrutinised data drawn from more than 14,000 Singaporeans, who participated in a 20-year long large cohort study called the Singapore Chinese Health Study.
By 2030, one in four people in Singapore will be aged 65 years and older, according to a report by the Government’s National Population and Talent Division. While Singaporeans are living longer – with the average age being 84 –ten of these years are spent in poor health. The accelerated process of ageing is accompanied by increases in age-related diseases and functional disabilities, causing tremendous individual and societal burdens. Hence, it is critical to identify modifiable factors affecting healthy ageing.
Several studies have examined the links between individual lifestyle factors, including diet, body weight, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption, with the likelihood of healthy ageing in various populations. However, although lifestyle factors are not isolated, only four studies in Europe and Latin America have evaluated the association between combined lifestyle factors and healthy ageing.
No similar study has been conducted in an Asian population till now.
In the study, which was published in a recent edition of the J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, the researchers used data from about 14,000 participants of the Singapore Chinese Health Study, and examined the association of individual and combined lifestyle factors (BMI, diet, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol drinking) at baseline (average age of 53 years) and follow-up visits (average age of 64 years old), with the likelihood of healthy ageing defined at average age of 74 years.
The study showed that each one-point increase in the protective lifestyle score computed at baseline and follow-up visits was associated with higher likelihood of healthy ageing at a later stage in life by 25% (95% CI: 20%–30%) and 24% (18%–29%), respectively. In addition, positive increase in lifestyle scores from baseline to follow-up visits was also significantly associated with a higher likelihood of healthy ageing in later life, with an odds ratio of 1.18 (95% CI: 1.12%–1.24%) for each increment in protective lifestyle score.
This study provides strong evidence that emphasizes the importance of improvements in lifestyle behaviors to reduce disease and mortality risk and increase possibility of healthy ageing in Singapore. Hence, public health educational efforts that focus on smoking cessation, promoting a physical activity-friendly environment, accessibility and affordability of healthy foods, and weight management will need to be strengthened.
Read more in the press release here.
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