Just Four Healthy Lifestyle Habits Reduce Risk of
Chronic Diseases by 80 Percent
The four factors were associated with a 93 percent
reduced risk of diabetes
Aug. 10, 2009 – Just four healthy lifestyle
factors-never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising
regularly and following a healthy diet-together appear to be associated
with as much as an 80 percent reduction in the risk of developing the
most common and deadly chronic diseases, according to a report in the
August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
Cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes-chronic
diseases that together account for most deaths-are largely preventable,
according to background information in the article. "An impressive body
of research has implicated modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking,
physical activity, diet and body weight in the causes of these
diseases," the authors write.
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Study of seniors finds physical activity, good
dietary habits, not smoking and light alcohol use lowers diabetes risk
by 82%; four in five new cases attributable to not having these low-risk
factors.
To further describe the reduction in risk
associated with these factors, Earl S. Ford, M.D., M.P.H., of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues
assessed data from 23,513 German adults age 35 to 65.
At the beginning of the European Prospective
Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam (EPIC-Potsdam)
study-between 1994 and 1998-participants completed an assessment of
their body weight and height, a personal interview that included
questions about diseases, a questionnaire on sociodemographic and
lifestyle characteristics and a food frequency questionnaire.
Their responses were assessed for adherence to four
healthy lifestyle factors: never smoking, having a body mass index lower
than 30, exercising for at least three and a half hours per week and
following healthy dietary principles (for example, having a diet with
high consumption of fruits and vegetables while limiting meat
consumption).
Follow-up questionnaires were administered every
two to three years.
Most participants had one to three of these health
factors, fewer than 4 percent had zero healthy factors and 9 percent had
all four factors. Over an average of 7.8 years of follow-up, 2,006
participants developed new cases of diabetes (3.7 percent), heart attack
(0.9 percent), stroke (0.8 percent) or cancer (3.8 percent).
After adjusting for age, sex, education level and
occupation, individuals with more healthy lifestyle factors were less
likely to develop chronic diseases. Participants who had all four
factors at the beginning of the study had a 78 percent lower risk of
developing any of the chronic diseases during the follow-up period than
those who had none of the healthy factors.
The four factors were associated with a 93 percent
reduced risk of diabetes, 81 percent reduced risk of heart attack, 50
percent reduced risk of stroke and 36 percent reduced risk of cancer.
The largest reduction in risk was associated with
having a BMI lower than 30, followed by never smoking, at least 3.5
hours of physical activity and then adhering to good dietary principles.
"Our results reinforce current public health
recommendations to avoid smoking, to maintain a healthy weight, to
engage in physical activity appropriately and to eat adequate amounts of
fruits and vegetables and foods containing whole grains and to partake
of red meat prudently," the authors write. "Because the roots of these
factors often originate during the formative stages of life, it is
especially important to start early in teaching the important lessons
concerning healthy living."
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Aug. 10, 2009 – Just four healthy lifestyle
factors-never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising
regularly and following a healthy diet-together appear to be associated
with as much as an 80 percent reduction in the risk of developing the
most common and deadly chronic diseases, according to a report in the
August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals. 
