It’s known that lack of exercise, bad food, cigarettes, and excess alcohol are detrimental to your health. However, it was not enough for the scientists from Canada. They decided to calculate how many years Canadian citizens lose because of unhealthy habits.
Unhealthy habits steal 6 years off your life
Canadian scientists conducted a research to find out how many years of life people lose due to bad habits.
Dr. Doug Manuel together with his colleagues studied statistical data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and 2009-2010 Canadian health report.
It has been estimated that 50% of deaths in Canada happen due to an unhealthy lifestyle.
On the contrary, healthy behavior prolongs one’s lifespan—people can live several years longer if they give up bad habits, Science Daily reports.
It’s unbelievable but the data confirms:
- 26% of deaths in Canada are caused by smoking
- 24% of deaths are caused by physical inactivity
- 12% of deaths happen because of unhealthy diet
- 0.4 of deaths happen due to alcohol abuse
For men, smoking is the worst as it deprives them of 3.1 years of life.
For women, it is the lack of physical exercise that reduces their life by 3 years on average.
If you like to spend time on the sofa with a glass of wine, it will shorten your life by six years on average.
Scientists warn: Give up unhealthy habits or die early
The scientists underline that a healthy lifestyle contributes to longevity and allows Canadians live for up to 17 years longer.
Researchers hope that other countries will also pay attention to the results of the study in order to improve the public health situation.
The scientists say that their study is a new approach allowing to measure the impact of unhealthy habits on people’s life duration.
In fact, the findings of the study send a strong warning to all people of the planet:.
- If you prefer to spend your evenings on the sofa watching TV shows, drinking alcohol or smoking, you can be assured—it will cost you around 6-7 years of life.
And if you wish to enjoy life for as long as possible, it’s time to think about giving up health-hurting behaviours. Healthy habits can add several years to your life expectancy.
Share this article
This statistic is horrifying, because every day people die from bad habits. I do not drink and do not smoke, but at the same time spend my life to different things that are not important. It should be treated more carefully to health and just to be happy.