Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-05-03
Source: The Conversation – France in French (3)– By Eef Hogervorst, Professor of Biological Psychology, Loughborough University
A study conducted on a large British cohort suggests that slight changes in sleep habits, physical activity, and diet are associated with healthier aging. We review its main findings, as well as the limitations of the results it highlights.
According to a large study conducted in the United Kingdom, it may not be necessary to completely upheave our way of life to live longer in better health. This is good news, especially since many people quickly give up on the good resolutions they make regarding their lifestyle habits.
In thisrecent study, approximately 59,000 people in the United Kingdom were followed, with an average age of 64 years, over a period of eight years. The researchers confirmed what previous studies had shown, namely that healthier lifestyles are associated with a lower risk of diseases, includingdementia, as well as a longer life in good health and greater autonomy.
The authors of the study reportthat even very modest changes were associated with such benefits. This notably included sleeping about five minutes more per night, engaging in two additional minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity, and modestly improving one’s diet. The combination of these changes was associated with about one additional year of healthy life. The term “healthy life” here refers to years lived without serious illness or disability that limit daily activities.
More significant changes are associated with more substantial gains. Nearly half an hour of additional sleep per night, combined with four extra minutes of exercise per day (which amounts to nearly half an hour of extra physical activity per week), and other improvements in diet, can lead to gaining up to four years of healthy life.
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This is important to note because, although women live on average longer than men, these additional years are often marked by aless good health, which leads to significant personal and economic costs. Women are exposed to a higher risk of dementia, stroke, and heart disease at an advanced age, as well as conditions causing vision loss and bone fractures. These diseases can reduce quality of life and threaten autonomy.
Changing one’s lifestyle can also reduce the risk of premature death. Last year, the same lifestyle-related factors examined in this cohort were the subject of an analysisin another studywhich dealt with mortality (the risk of death).
According to this analysis, people who adopted a healthier lifestyle over a period of eight years had a 10% lower risk of death during this period. The combination of an additional 15 minutes of sleep per night, an extra two minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per day, and a healthy diet was associated with a slight reduction in the risk of death. A much larger reduction, of 64%, was observed in people who slept between seven and eight hours per night, followed a healthy diet, and engaged in between 42 and 103 additional minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week.
It should be noted that this beneficial effect was only observed when these behaviors were combined. Diet alone, for example, had no measurable effect.
Strengths and limitations of these studies
One of the main assets of these studies comes from the fact that they highlight health benefits from the very first signs of a behavior change. This reduces the risk that the results are solely influenced by the inclusion of people who are already healthier or more motivated. These conclusions thus appear more relevant for older people and for those with limited capacities to modify their habits.
Another of their strengths lies in the use of objective measures rather than self-reported data from the participants themselves. Physical activity and sleep were measured using wearable devices, rather than relying on participants’ estimates about their own behavior. Participant reports can indeed prove unreliable, particularly among people who suffer from memory disorders, as well as those in the early stages of thedementia.
There are, however, significant limitations to these studies. Objective measurements were only collected for three to seven days, which may not reflect the long-term habits of the individuals concerned. In my experience, wearing a connected bracelet can encourage people to exercise more during the monitoring period, but these changes are often short-lived.
Moreover, wrist-worn accelerometers assess sleep and physical activity based on movements. During deep sleep, people move very little, but the absence of movement does not always mean that a person is sleeping. Therefore, these devices may not fully reflect the truesleep habitsor thephysical activity levels. Other methods, such as sensors attached to the thigh or sensors integrated into the mattress that detect movements during sleep, can provide more accurate assessments.
Despite these problems, objective measures are generally more reliable than the statements of the people concerned. However, since the behavior was measured only once, it is difficult to determine whether thebehavior changesobserved over time influenced health outcomes. It is also difficult to know whether the recorded activity corresponded to exercise done during leisure time or to physical activity at work, knowing that these two types of activity can have different effects on health.
Information about diet poses another challenge. Eating habits were reported by the participants themselves and collected three to nine years before the data on sleep and physical activity were gathered. Eating habits often change over time, especially after a diagnosis such as cardiovascular disease, where individuals may be advised to reduce their cholesterol, or in cases of dementia, when people may forget to eat. It is therefore difficult to know whether diet influenced disease risk, or if it was the onset of the disease that modified the diet and ultimately contributed to poor health and premature death.
It is also necessary to take into account more general social factors. Healthy behaviors tend to cluster togethertogetherand are closely linked to the level of education and financial security. Byexample, thesmokingand the fact of being inoverweight or obeseare closely associated with insecurity and poverty.
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The participants at theUK Biobank, a large long-term health research project collecting genetic, lifestyle, and health data from hundreds of thousands of British adults, are generally healthier than the average British population.
Health research often attracts people who are healthier, more educated, and enjoy greater financial security. This may reflect both an interest in research and having the time and resources necessary to participate in such studies.
Wealth also has an impact on exposure to risk. People who have higher incomes are less likely to live in areas where the levels ofpollutionare high and are more likely to control their working conditions and their finances. Financial stress canto affectThe quality of sleep, causing fatigue and reducing the likelihood of engaging in physical activity, buying fresh foods, or preparing healthy meals. Over a lifetime, these factors contribute to poorer health and premature death.
Although researchers have attempted to take these influences into account using statistical methods, they are closely linked and difficult to distinguish. For many people who now live in extreme poverty, the worsening ofgap between health problems and wealthhighlights the limits of individual responsibility. Thesestructural problemsdemand action frompolicy makers, rather than placing the burden solely on people who may have very little control over the conditions that determine their health.
Eef Hogervorst has received funding from several governmental and charitable foundations for her research on lifestyle and health, notably currently from ISPF and Alzheimer’s Research UK. She is affiliated with Loughborough University and has recently served as a dementia expert for NICE and the BBC. In the past, she has been a consultant on nutrition and dementia risks for Proctor.
–ref. Sleep, physical activity, diet: even modest improvements are linked to healthier aging –https://theconversation.com/sleep-physical-activity-nutrition-improvements-even-modest-ones-are-linked-to-healthier-aging-281360