'Powerful effects' of healthy living on disease prevention
By adopting principles of healthy living, people can live longer and, for some of these extra years of life, probably live without having a major chronic disease. 
Dr Earl Ford, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
14 August 2009
Following four healthy lifestyle factors - never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and following a healthy diet - could reduce your risk of developing some of the most common chronic diseases by nearly 80 percent, according to new research published in medical journal, Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US studied data from over 23,000 German adults aged 35 to 65. They recorded how many of the four healthy lifestyle factors, every person followed including: never having smoked, having a healthy body weight (a body mass index (BMI) of less than 30), exercising regularly (at least three and a half hours of physical activity a week), following a healthy diet (determined by how much fruit and vegetables, whole grain bread and red meat people reported eating). The researchers then looked at who developed diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke or cancer over the next eight years.
Over 2,000 of the people in the study developed new cases of diabetes, heart attack, stroke or cancer during the study. The researchers found that the more healthy lifestyle factors a person followed, the less likely they were to develop one of the four chronic diseases - less than five in 100 people who reported following all four healthy lifestyle factors developed one of the four chronic diseases, compared to more than 20 in 100 of those who didn't follow any. They calculated that this equated to a 78% lower risk for people who followed all four healthy lifestyle factors.
Lead author, Dr Earl Ford, told the Bupa Heath Information Team: "Our study underscores how much control people potentially have over their health. Along with other studies, our study highlights the powerful effects of healthy living on disease prevention. By adopting principles of healthy living, people can live longer and, for some of these extra years of life, probably live without having a major chronic disease."
He added: "For people who do not practice any of the four healthy behaviours, it would seem reasonable to start with one and progressively incorporate other healthy behaviours into their daily living."
Although the findings of this study are interesting, it's important to remember that chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer are usually caused by more than just lifestyle factors. Other factors such as ethnic background and family history also play a role. This study only looked at the effect of four lifestyle factors. It's therefore almost impossible to put an exact figure on how your risk of developing a disease would be affected by certain lifestyle factors.
| Key findings |
|---|
|
Related information
- Body mass index (BMI)
- Healthy eating - health factsheet
- Giving up smoking - health factsheet
- Physical activity - health factsheet
Back to the latest health news
