Factors such as loneliness, depression and having broken a bone recently are more likely to predict a person’s risk of dying in the next five years, researchers at the University of Chicago found.
“The healthiest people were obese and robust,” said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, which found that 22 per cent of older Americans fit that definition of good health despite higher obesity and blood pressure.
The most unhealthy are those with uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure, and who often face challenges getting around and performing daily tasks.
“Instead of policies focused on reducing obesity as a much lamented health condition, greater support for reducing loneliness among isolated older adults or restoring sensory functions would be more effective in enhancing health and wellbeing in the older population,” said co-author Edward Laumann of the University of Chicago.
Full article at: CTV News