What can you say? Healthy lifestyle choice is for people of all ages, and in the case when you’re over 60 years old, unhealthy lifestyle choices will more than likely end you up in the nursing home earlier.

Published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, researchers conducted a large population study of 127,108 men between the ages of 60 and older from the Australian 45 and Up Study. Modifiable lifestyle factors were recored through questionnaires about the participants’ smoking status, physical activity levels, sedentary times, sleeping pattern, and diet. Based on their answers, they were stratified into low risk group, medium risk group, and high risk group. Participants were linked to their medical records.

They found that compared to those in the low risk group, the high risk group had 43% higher risk of being admitted into a nursing home. The medium group also did not fair much better with a 12% risk of ending up in a nursing home. Also the most influential age was between 60 to 64 years old where the unhealthiest individual had almost a 50% chance of being admitted to a nursing home compared to the healthiest individuals.

They also found the smoking was the biggest risk factor.

Healthy lifestyle is for people of all ages and all over the world. Staying physically active, respecting healthy sleep, not smoking, and eating healthy diets filled with unprocessed fruits and vegetables should be one’s nonnegotiable if they want to live a long and healthy life.

AA Gibson et al. Impact of lifestyle risk factors on admission to nursing home care: a cohort study of 127 108 people aged 60 years and over. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2023-220518