CDC: ?People Who Live Healthy Lifestyles May Live Longer

People can live longer if they practice one or more healthy lifestyle behaviors, not smoking, eating a healthy diet, getting regular physical activity, and limiting alcohol, according to a study done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, published online by the American Journal of Public Health, is called Low Risk Lifestyle Behaviors and All-Cause Mortality: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III Mortality Study (NHANES), and found that people who engaged in all four healthy behaviors were 63 percent less likely to die early, compared to people who did not practice any of the behaviors.

If you want to lead a longer life and feel better, you should adopt healthy behaviors - not smoking, getting regular physical activity, eating healthy, and avoiding excessive alcohol use, said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC.

The CDC found that people who engaged in all four healthy behaviors were 63 percent less likely to die early when compared to people who didn't practice any of the behaviors.

Not smoking provided the most protection from dying from all of the causes examined, the CDC found.

The researchers defined low-risk health behaviors as never smoking, eating a healthy diet, moderate intensity or vigorous intensity physical activity, and moderate alcohol consumption.

Among participants in the CDC study, 47.5 percent had never smoked, 51 percent were moderate drinkers, 39.3 percent had a healthy diet, and 40.2 percent were adequately physically active.

CDC officials said, the percentage of people who reported low-risk behaviors did not differ significantly by gender, and that Mexican Americans had more healthy behaviors compared to whites and African Americans.