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Unhealthy habits in young adults begin showing effects by age 36, finds study
A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla and it was published in the journal Annals of Medicine found that effects of unhealthy habits in young adulthood begin to surface around the age of 36. Read on to know more about the study.
New Delhi:
A new study suggests that the negative effects of unhealthy habits in young adulthood, such as smoking, excessive drinking and lack of physical activity, typically begin to surface around the age of 36. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla and it was published in the journal Annals of Medicine.
For the study, the researchers tracked about 370 residents of the Finnish city for over 30 years. Data for the study were collected via surveys and medical tests at ages 27, 36, 42, 50 and 61. The findings of the study say that three bad habits, smoking, heavy drinking and a lack of exercise, can lead to declines in health in people as young as 36.
The researchers also say that unhealthy behaviours in mid-life, 40s and 50s, are known to increase the chances of developing health disorders in old age. However, their analysis showed that the ill-effects of unhealthy behaviours remained similar through the ages 36 to 61, suggesting that the link exists already at age 36 and not only in the later phases of mid-life.
The researchers also found that the ill effects were apparent by the time the participants were in their mid-30s.
Tiia Kekalainen, a health scientist at the University of Jyvaskyla’s Gerontology Research Center and lead author of the study said, “Our findings highlight the importance of tackling risky health behaviours, such as smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity, as early as possible to prevent the damage they do to from building up over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in later life.”
Kekalainen added that following a healthy lifestyle can reduce an individual’s risk of developing non-communicable disorders such as heart disease and cancer and reduce the chances of an early death.
A lack of exercise was particularly linked to poor physical health and smoking to poor mental health. A heavy consumption of alcohol was, however, associated with declines in both mental and physical health.
The three unhealthy behaviours were seen to produce stronger ill-effects over a longer term, through increasing depressive symptoms and metabolic risks. The authors wrote, “The findings of the present study suggest that the associations were mainly similar across time from age 36 to 61. Thus, the cumulative association of earlier risky behaviours exists already at age 36 and not only in the later phases of midlife.”
(With PTI inputs)
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