Bad habits deteriorate health from a young age: study

NEW YORK (HealthDay News)—Bad habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, and skipping exercise may start affecting a person's health in their mid- 30s , a new study suggests.

In fact, those three specific vices mean worse physical and mental health starting at age 36 , researchers report in the Annals of Medicine .

“Our findings highlight the importance of addressing health-risk behaviors, such as smoking, excessive drinking, and physical inactivity, as early as possible to prevent the damage they cause from accumulating over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in life,” said lead researcher Tiia Kekäläinen, a health scientist at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

For the study, researchers followed the health of more than 300 children born in Jyväskylä in 1959 , and provided regular updates on their mental and physical health until they reached the age of 61.

As part of the study, doctors assessed at each update whether a person smoked, drank excessively, or exercised less than once a week.

The results revealed that people with those three unhealthy habits had a higher risk of depression and health problems . Crucially, these effects were evident when participants were around 30 years old , the researchers noted.

Lack of exercise was linked to poor physical health, smoking to poor mental health, and excessive drinking to poor physical and mental health, the researchers wrote.

“Diseases such as heart disease and cancer cause nearly three-quarters of deaths worldwide,” Kekäläinen said. “But by following a healthy lifestyle, an individual can reduce their risk of developing these diseases and reduce their chances of premature death.”

However, “it's never too late to change to healthier habits,” he emphasized.

“Adopting healthier habits in middle age also has benefits for later life,” Tiia Kekäläinen emphasized.

The researchers noted that because this was an observational study, they cannot establish a direct causal link between these habits and health problems.

The relationship between habits and health is likely also bidirectional, the researchers added in their study. For example, someone who is stressed may drink excessively to help them cope, and their alcohol consumption may lead to poorer well-being.