Study Links Cultural Activities to 3-Year Younger Bodies in Older Adults
Updated
Updated · ScienceDaily · Jul 15
Study Links Cultural Activities to 3-Year Younger Bodies in Older Adults
3 articles · Updated · ScienceDaily · Jul 15
Summary
1,899 adults aged 50 and older in England showed a roughly three-year gap in physiological age: 66.9 years for those engaging in cultural activities every few months or more, versus 69.9 for less frequent participants.
Institute of Science Tokyo researchers built the finding from 10 health indicators—including blood pressure, lung function, cholesterol, grip strength, and walking speed—across at least two survey waves in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Each 1-point rise in the 0-to-15 cultural engagement score was tied to a 0.085-year, or 31-day, reduction in physiological age after adjusting for income, employment, and chronic conditions.
The authors said stronger social ties, better mental health, and healthier habits may help explain the link, but the observational study cannot prove causation and may partly reflect healthier people being more able to attend events.
Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the study argues cultural engagement is a modifiable behavior that could inform healthy-aging policy if access to events becomes more affordable and geographically reachable.