Not exercising is just as unhealthy as smoking and taking opioids

Men in their 40s practising a healthy lifestyle are likely to prolong their lifespan by an average of 24 years, with women likely to live 21 years longer, new research has found. – Felix Kästle/dpa

If you are turning 40 and are fond of any or all of smoking, binge-drinking and opioids, there’s a fair chance you might not see eight or nine decades.

This might not exactly be news, but a long-term study covering almost 720,000 United States military veterans has thrown up some hints about what bad habits are worst, at least among former soldiers, who are more likely than the general population to suffer from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

For their study, a team of scientists led by Xuan-Mai Nguyen from the University of Illinois looked at eight habits considered to contribute to a healthy lifestyle, namely being physically active, eating well, no excessive alcohol consumption, no smoking, coping well with stress, good sleep, maintaining positive social relationships and not being dependent on opioid painkillers.

The likes of loneliness, fast food, poor sleep and excess stress were, in some cases, found to be almost as bad as smoking or drugs for anyone with designs on making it to their dotage.

And a lack of exercise is, according to the findings, as big a negative as addictions to nicotine or opioids.

The study, presented at the international “Nutrition 2023” conference in Boston, found that men in their 40s with all eight bad habits would die 24 years before their counterparts with none of the habits, with women likely to see 21 years lopped off their lifespans.

Smokers, opioid addicts and the exercise-shy had a 30-45% higher risk of death, with boozers, bad eaters, the sleep-deprived and highly-stressed at 20%.

The 40-something loners out there can relax, however, as a “lack of positive social relationships” was associated with just a 5% increased risk of death.

The findings “underscore the role of lifestyle factors in contributing to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease that lead to premature disability and death,” according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Carle Illinois College of Medicine, who cautioned that the research does not “prove causality.” – dpa