Four common bad habits combined — smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet — can age you by 12 years, sobering new research suggests.
The findings are from a study that tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years, and they highlight yet another reason to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Overall, 314 people studied had all four unhealthy behaviors. Among them, 91 died during the study, or 29 percent. Among the 387 healthiest people with none of the four habits, only 32 died, or about 8 percent.
The risky behaviors were: smoking tobacco; downing more than three alcoholic drinks per day for men and more than two daily for women; getting less than two hours of physical activity per week; and eating fruits and vegetables fewer than three times daily.
These habits combined substantially increased the risk of death and made people who engaged in them seem 12 years older than people in the healthiest group, said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo.
The study appears in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.
The healthiest group included never-smokers and those who had quit; teetotalers, women who had fewer than two drinks daily and men who had fewer than three; those who got at least two hours of physical activity weekly; and those who ate fruits and vegetables at least three times daily.
"You don't need to be extreme" to be in the healthy category, Kvaavik said. "These behaviors add up, so together it's quite good. It should be possible for most people to manage to do it."
The US government generally recommends at least 4 cups of fruits or vegetables daily for adults, depending on age and activity level; and about 2 1/2 hours of exercise weekly.
一项最新研究结果让人警醒：吸烟、酗酒、缺乏运动和饮食不合理等四个不良习惯加在一起，会让你看上去老12岁。
这些发现来源于对近5000名英国成年人开展的一项长达20年的跟踪调查，调查结果进一步强调了健康生活方式的重要性。
总体来看，受访者中有314人占尽四种不良习惯。其中有91人，即29%的人在研究期间去世。而在387位四种坏习惯都没有的最健康人士中，只有32人在此期间去世，比例约为8%。
这些高风险行为包括：抽烟、男性每天喝酒超过三杯或女性每天喝酒超过两杯、每周运动不足两小时以及每天吃水果和蔬菜少于三次。
奥斯陆大学的首席研究员伊丽莎白?克瓦维克说，这些习惯加在一起极大增加了死亡风险，有这些恶习的人比生活方式最为健康小组的人看起来老12岁。
该研究在本周一的《内科学档案》期刊上发表。
生活方式最健康小组的人包括从不抽烟的人和已经戒烟的人、禁酒者、每天喝酒少于两杯的女性和每天喝酒少于三杯的男性、每周运动至少两个小时的人和每天吃水果蔬菜至少三次的人。
克瓦维克说，保持健康的生活方式“并不需要走极端，这些习惯加在一起就能让你受益良多。大多数人应该都能做到。”
按照美国政府的建议，成年人每天至少要吃四杯水果或蔬菜，食用量可根据年龄和运动量进行调整，每周应锻炼约两个半小时。