Using a long-running longitudinal study, in which hundreds of children who were born in the Finnish city of Jyväskylä in 1959 were followed from childhood until their early 60s, the team analyzed participants’ mental and
physical health via data that was collected from surveys and medicals when they were 27 years old (326 participants) and again at age 36, 42, 50 and 61 (206 participants).
Mental health was assessed via surveys. Physical health was assessed by creating a metabolic risk score. Self-health was assessed by asking the participants to rate the state of their health over the past year. Three risky behaviours were also assessed at each point in time: smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity. Analysis of the results showed that if an individual had all three unhealthy habits at a given point in time, their mental and physical health were poorer.
Depressive symptoms rose by 0.1 points, metabolic risk score rose by 0.53 points, psychological wellbeing fell by 0.1 point and self-rated health fell by 0.45 points. Having all three unhealthy behaviours long-term was even more strongly associated with poor health. Depressive symptoms rose by 0.38 points, metabolic risk score rose by 1.49 points, psychological wellbeing fell by 0.14 points and self-rated health fell by 0.45 points.
Lack of exercise was particularly linked to poor physical health,
smoking was mainly linked to poor mental health and heavy alcohol consumption was associated with declines in both mental and physical health. Crucially, the effects were apparent by the time the participants were in their mid-30s.
“Our findings highlight the importance of tackling risky health behaviours, such as smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity, as early as possible to prevent the damage they do to from building up over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in later life” said lead author Dr Tiia Kekäläinen, a health scientist who has a particular interest in aging.
“However, it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age.”
The authors also acknowledge that they only looked at three types of behaviour and say that other factors, such as diet, should be included in future studies.
Reference: Kekäläinen, T., Ahola, J., Reinilä, E., Savikangas, T., Kinnunen, M. L., Pitkänen, T., & Kokko, K. (2025). Cumulative associations between health behaviours, mental well-being, and health over 30 years. Annals of Medicine, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2025.2479233
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