News by Subject Social & Behavior

Researchers from King's College London have shown that a combination of approaches that aim to address unhealthy lifestyles, access to healthcare and social issues could reduce the gap in life expectancies by around 28% between those with severe mental illness (SMI) and the general population.

From the age of 50, there is a decline not just in physical activity but also in cognitive abilities since the two are correlated. But which of them influences the other? Researchers (UNIGE) used a database of over 100,000 people aged 50-90 whose physical and cognitive abilities were measured every two years for 12 years. The findings show that cognitive abilities ward off inactivity much more than physical activity prevents the decline in cognitive abilities.

Researchers looked at whether taking more steps and higher intensity stepping were associated with reduced risk of death in this observational study that included almost 4,900 adults (40 and over) who wore a device called an accelerometer to measure their step count and step intensity (steps/minute).

People who followed researchers' motivational posts on Instagram got more enjoyment out of their training sessions. Just a couple of minutes over the course of four weeks was enough to make a difference.

Eating more protein at breakfast or lunchtime could help older people maintain muscle mass with advancing age -- but most people eat proteins fairly unevenly throughout the day, new research at the University of Birmingham has found.

Life expectancy is influenced not only by the traditional lifestyle-related risk factors but also by factors related to a person's quality of life, such as heavy stress.

Older people who regularly walk, garden, swim or dance may have bigger brains than their inactive peers, according to a preliminary study to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 72nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 25 to May 1, 2020. The effect of exercise was equal to four fewer years of brain aging.

Each week, millions of runners around the world lace up their running shoes, spurred on by the psychological, health and social benefits that running delivers. But new research from the University of South Australia reveals a downside.