WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new study, published in the Annals of Medicine, examined how unhealthy choices such as smoking, heavy drinking, and not exercising impact both mental and physical health over time.
The research team from Finland used information from a long-term study that followed people born in the Finnish city of Jyvaskyla in 1959. These individuals were checked for their mental and physical health at ages 27, 36, 42, 50, and 61.
Mental health was measured through surveys about depression and emotional well-being. Physical health was checked using things like blood pressure, waist size, and blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
The researchers found that the longer people continued with unhealthy habits, the more their mental and physical health declined.
Smoking was linked to worse mental health, lack of exercise (less than once a week) was linked to poor physical health, and drinking alcohol caused problems in both areas.
The research team concluded that adopting a healthy lifestyle early in life could help prevent several major diseases later on. They emphasized that unhealthy habits may begin to impact a person's health as early as age 36.
'Our findings highlight the importance of tackling risky health behaviors, such as smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity, as early as possible to prevent the damage they do from building up over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in later life,' said lead author Dr. Tiia Kekalainen.
'However, it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age.'
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