Quality of life and health span have joined lifespan as optimal goals for aging. Lifespan describes living the years of your life at an optimal level of health and wellness vs. the gradual then steep decline that normally follows aging. Losses in health span and normally associated with losses in physical independence.
The low hanging fruits of optimizing your life span include avoiding smoking, avoiding chronic diseases such as diabetes, exercising daily, nutrition, sleep, and stress management. All of these interventions are relatively easy to start but hard to remain consistent on each day. A recent study documented which of these variables best predicted early mortality.
Leroux and colleagues published their findings on the long standing NHANES study the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (2024). The study followed 3700, 50-80 y.o. to determine which factors were most associated with early mortality. They included 14 known factors for mortality including age, educational level, medical history, medications, body mass index, and activity levels. The participants were then followed to determine an association between these factors and early death.
Surprisingly, the best predictor of early death among this group was the amount of physical activity they performed each day as measured by their smart watches. Including how active they were in their most active 10 hour period and their total movement per day.
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