9 Factors That Contribute to a Longer Life, According to a New Study

Longevity isn’t just determined by how hard we try and stay healthy—it also depends on environmental factors and what we’re exposed to. According to a new study in Nature Medicine, there’s a clear link between our environment and our mortality. “A strong argument that non-genetic environmental factors play a key role in aging and premature mortality comes from the observation that global human lifespan has increased nearly twofold during the past 200 years, while the human genome is expected to have been stable in such a short period,” the study explains. Read on for more details about the study’s findings—including nine factors that can actually contribute to a longer life.

Methodology

The study used data from the UK Biobank, a biomedical database and research resource containing genetic, lifestyle, and health information. Then, researchers identified independent factors associated with premature mortality (aka, shorter life expectancy) and determined whether they contribute to the aging process. These exposures were then ranked in hierarchical order before researchers identified environmental factors related to age-related diseases—and the results might surprise you.

The Link Between Environment and Longevity

The study found several factors that correlated with a shorter life expectancy: Smoking, renting public housing (rather than owning your home), and those living in a Townsend deprivation index where proper resources aren’t afforded to residents. Similarly, a higher life expectancy was linked to living with a partner (rather than alone or with non-partners), number of household vehicles, and employment with a livable household income. Additionally, physical activity, hours of sleep, time spent at the gym, and weight by the time an individual turns 10 years old were all factors associated with lifespan.

“We find that the major drivers of premature death and aging in our sample are smoking, socioeconomic status and deprivation, ethnicity, physical activity, living with a partner, sleep, and mental and physical wellness including tiredness, as well as early life exposures including height and body size at 10 years and maternal smoking around birth,” the study reads. While further research needs to be done on this topic, this research suggests that lifespan may be determined by a mix of factors that extend beyond genetics.