Retirement can actually improve your health
|
Version 0 of 1. Retirement is often seen as an escape from the workaday grind, a chance to wind down and relax. Might retirement cause lifestyle changes that can affect health? THIS STUDY analyzed data on 27,257 adults, most in their 50s and 60s and still working, full or part time, at the start of the study. Over the next three years, 3,106 of them (11 percent) retired, most for age, lifestyle or job-related reasons but some because of illness or injury or to care for someone else. Once retired, people’s lifestyle behaviors generally became healthier. Compared with those still working, people who had retired spent more time walking (33 vs. 16 minutes a week), more time in moderate-intensity physical activity (50 vs. 24 minutes a week) and less time sitting (67 minutes a day less vs. 27 minutes). They also slept about 15 minutes a day more than those who had not retired. Women but not men were more apt to quit smoking once retired. Alcohol use and consumption of fruits and vegetables did not change, on average, upon retirement. WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? People who retire — a number currently estimated to be about 10,000 people a day in the United States. The study found that the positive lifestyle effects experienced by retirees were most pronounced among those who had worked full time before retiring and those who retired closer to middle age. People who retired for health reasons or to care for others experienced the least change in lifestyle behaviors. CAVEATS Data on lifestyle behaviors came from the participants’ responses on periodic questionnaires. The study did not determine the reasons for behavioral changes, but the researchers suggested that time gained through retirement was a contributing factor. Whether any changes were maintained long-term was not tested. FIND THIS STUDY Online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (ajpmonline.org; click on “Articles in Press”). LEARN MORE ABOUT healthy aging at healthfinder.gov (search for “as you grow older”) and familydoctor.org (search for “habits at age 60”). The research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals. |