According to a 2016 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), life expectancy globally is 71.4 years.
That’s 73.8 years for females, and 69.1 years for males.
A new study of Americans led by Harvard University has found that more than an additional decade could be tacked onto their life expectancy if they kept five healthy habits throughout adulthood.
US Air Force Captain Charlotta Blalock works out at the Southside Fitness Center, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (U.S. Air Force photo/Chief Master Sgt. Matt Proietti)
Those health habits identified by the researchers were eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy body weight (BMI), not smoking, and not drinking too much alcohol.
To reach their findings, the study authors analyzed some 34 years of data from 78,865 women gathered in the Nurse’s Health Study and 27 years of data from 44,354 men who took part in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
The paper, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, also provides evidence that study subjects who maintained the healthiest lifestyles were 82 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, and 65 percent less likely to die from cancer, compared to others who didn’t keep such healthful lifestyles.
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