New study finds people as young as 36 were showing signs of poor health choices due to the effects of smoking and drinking while not exercising enough
Bad habits such as heavy drinking, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle can cause detrimental effects by the age of 36, research suggests.
The study, published in the Annals of Medicine, tracked participants for more than 30 years and assessed both their physical and mental health.
Experts from Finnish universities analysed 326 people over a 34-year period, with checkpoints at 27, 36, 42, 50 and 61.
The data found by the age of 36, patients were exhibiting signs of poor health. In addition, when patients reached the final checkpoint at 61 years old 120 participants had died.
The common illnesses closely linked to such unhealthy habits are connected to an increased risk of several forms of cancer, stroke, cardiac arrest, breathing difficulties, high blood pressure and mental health problems.
Lead author Dr Tiia Kekäläinen, a health scientist stated: “The cumulative association of earlier risky behaviours exists already at age 36 and not only in the later phases of midlife.”
Kekäläinen added “non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer cause almost three-quarters of deaths worldwide”.
The participants’ health was monitored through both mental and physical tests.
Their psychological health was measured through surveys to analyse symptoms of depression and they were given a score between one and four. Physical health was measured by creating a metabolic score from zero to five in regards to blood pressure, waist size, levels of blood sugar, cholesterol and other fats in the blood.
The researchers also included self-health, allowing participants to rate their health over the past year, on a scale of one to five.
This was all completed while also monitoring each individual’s use of the three bad habits: smoking, drinking excessively (defined as consuming at least 875 units of alcohol a year for women and 1,250 units a year for men) and a lack of exercise (exercising less than once a week).
The facts: Smoking and drinking
Approximately 80,000 die from smoking every year and is responsible for one in four of all deaths from cancer.
There were an estimated 408,000 hospital admissions due to smoking in 2022/23 according to NHS England figures.
In 2023, 12 per cent of UK adults smoked, down from 20 per cent in 2011.
Despite a fall in smoking, vaping has risen among young adults with 5.1 million people using a vape or e-cigarette in nearly 16 per cent of those who vaped were among 16-24-year-olds.
In 2022, 56 per cent of adults in England reported drinking alcohol in the past week.
In 2022, 30 per cent of men exceeded the weekly limit, double
the proportion of women (15 per cent).Among those aged 16 to 24 years, women were more likely to have drunk on five or more days in the past week than men: 7 per cent compared with 3 per cent.
When analysing the data experts found that if participants completed all three unhealthy habits that overall depressive symptoms rose by 0.1 points, metabolic risk score rose by 0.53 points, psychological wellbeing fell by 0.1 points and self-rated health fell by 0.45 points.
If the participants continued their bad habits in the long term, statistics displayed an even more detrimental effect.
Depressive symptoms rose by 0.38 points, metabolic risk score rose by 1.49 points, psychological wellbeing fell by 0.14 points and self-rated health fell by 0.45 points.
Clearly displaying an enormous drop in both mental and physical health due to bad habits.
However, the lead author Kekäläinen did state that “it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age.”
The researchers wrote that “the findings of the present study suggest that the associations were mainly similar across time from age 36 to 61”.
This comes ahead of a ban on single-use disposable vapes in England, Wales and Scotland in June.
The Government has also introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which prohibits the the sale of tobacco to people born on or after 1 January, 2009.
