What is this about?

The document in this edition of Connections is a recent article from the British Medical Journal that uses 2 major American long-term epidemiological studies (The Nurses’ Health Study – N= 73,196 and the Health Professions Follow-up Study – N= 33, 366).  These 2 landmark prospective cohort studies are used in this study to document the healthy years gained from a healthy lifestyle.  A healthy lifestyle was defined as five low risk lifestyle factors: never smoking, body mass index 18.5-24.9, moderate to vigorous physical activity (≥30 minutes/day), moderate alcohol intake (women: 5-15 g/day; men 5-30 g/day), and a higher diet quality score (upper 40%). The summary findings are highlighted below:

“The life expectancy free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer at age 50 was 23.7 years (95% confidence interval 22.6 to 24.7) for women who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors, in contrast to 34.4 years (33.1 to 35.5) for women who adopted four or five low risk factors. At age 50, the life expectancy free of any of these chronic diseases was 23.5 (22.3 to 24.7) years among men who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors and 31.1 (29.5 to 32.5) years in men who adopted four or five low risk lifestyle factors.”

This amounts to 10.7 more years on average for women who live a healthy lifestyle versus those that don’t (45.7% more life years without chronic conditions) and 12.4 more years on average for men who live a healthy lifestyle versus those that don’t (54.0% more life years without chronic conditions).  That’s a big difference in chronic conditions and morbidity, especially as we consider the risk of COVID-19 infections!

Why is this important?

This document represents one of the largest population studies on the healthy life years gained from healthy lifestyle choices. The five low risk lifestyle factors are at the core of virtually all employee wellness programs and are also at the heart of risk factors associated with COVID-19. This study documents the quality of life advantages of a wellness-oriented lifestyle along with the reduced health care use and improvements in life expectancy or likely length of life.  You gain years of life and years of life without major chronic diseases: A pretty good trade-off for the pursuit of wellness.

What can you do with this document?

• First, skim through the research article to get a sense of what findings and evidence it is presenting.
• Next, determine if this information can be used in educating employees about the long-term implications of adopting a wellness-oriented lifestyle.
• Next, determine where the findings should be used in your program.
• Next, share with staff. volunteers and management the major highlights of the study and how this information can be used with those that may be concerned about COVID-19 infection.
• Next, as you put your work plan and budget together for the next year of programming consider how this information should shape your choice of targets and the corresponding interventions.

In summary, this study provides a quantitative estimate of the healthy years that can be gained from pursuing a wellness-oriented lifestyle.  The article provides recent and significant science-based proof of the value of adopting a healthy lifestyle.