We all know smoking, drinking too much and skipping workouts aren’t the best habits to have – but a new study suggests the toll they take on your body could show up far earlier than you might think.
Researchers from Finland have found that the damaging effects of an unhealthy lifestyle in young adulthood can be detected as early as age 36. The study, published in the Annals of Medicine journal, involved tracking 371 people throughout their lives, investigating how habits, including smoking, binge drinking, and not exercising, affected health over time.
They found that if you regularly drank to excess, smoked or lived a mostly sedentary life in your 20s and early 30s, you could be seeing the knock-on effects just a few years later.
“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,” Dr Tiia Kekäläinen, a senior researcher at Laurea University of Applied Sciences, said in a press release.
The study focused on four key lifestyle factors: alcohol use, smoking, physical activity and body weight. The researchers found that a higher number of unhealthy behaviours was linked to poorer physical functioning at age 36. By the time people reached their thirties, these vices were a contributing factor in higher rates of depression, cancer, heart disease, lung disease and early death.
They also discovered that the combination of smoking and low physical activity was particularly harmful. A lack of exercise was particularly linked to poor physical health, smoking was mainly linked to poor mental health and heavy alcohol consumption was associated with declines in both mental and physical health.
While these findings might feel confronting, the good news is that change is possible – and beneficial.
“However, it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age,” Dr Kekäläinen confirms.
It’s a reminder that we could all benefit from moving more, drinking less and ditching the cigarettes or vapes – regardless of how many candles will be on your next birthday cake.
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