Speaking of healthy habits....

This morning's *Washington Post* includes the following article: "Healthy HabitsCan Mean 14 Extra Years" by Maria Cheng. To get an extra 14 years of life, don't smoke, eat lots of fruits andvegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in moderation. That'sthe finding of a study that tracked about 20,000 people in the United Kingdom. Kay-Tee Khaw of the University of Cambridge and colleagues calculatedthat people who adopted these four healthy habits lived an average of 14years longer than those who didn't. "We've known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do,but we've never seen these additive benefits before," said Susan Jebb,head of Nutrition and Health at Britain's Medical Research Council,which helped pay for the study. "Just doing one of these behaviors helps, but every step you make toimprove your health seems to have an added benefit," said Jebb, who wasnot involved in the study. The benefits were also seen regardless of whether or not people were fatand what social class they came from. The findings were published onlineMonday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal. The study included healthy adults aged 45 to 79. Participants filled ina health questionnaire between 1993 and 1997 and nurses conducted amedical exam at a clinic. Participants scored a point each for notsmoking, regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits andvegetables a day and moderate alcohol intake. Until 2006, the researchers tracked deaths from all causes, includingcardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory diseases. People whoscored four points were four times less likely to die than those whoscored zero, the research showed. Khaw said that the study should convince people that improving theirhealth does not always require extreme changes to their lifestyles. "We didn't ask these people to do anything exceptional," Khaw said. "Wemeasured normal behaviors that were entirely feasible within people'snormal, everyday lives." Public health experts said they hoped the study would inspiregovernments to help people adopt these changes. "This research is an important piece of work which emphasizes howmodifying just a few risk factors can add years to your life," said Dr.Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization. But because the study only observed people rather than testing specificchanges, experts said that it would be impossible to conclude thatpeople who suddenly adopted these healthy behaviors would automaticallygain 14 years. "We can't say that any one person could gain 14 years by doing thesethings," said Armstrong. "The 14 years is an average across thepopulation of what's theoretically possible." But experts worry that the new findings may still not be enough topersuade people to change their unhealthy ways. "Most people know that things like a good diet matter and that smokingis not good for you," Jebb said. "We need to work on providing peoplewith much more practical support to help them change."


Not to worry, I did not type this. Just copied and pasted!

Love, Bernadette