Aging
Midlife lifestyle factors and healthy aging in a prospective cohort of women Xiaoying Zheng* Xiaoying Zheng Fen Wu Karen L. Koenig Yian Gu Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte Yu Chen
Lifestyle factors have been associated with healthy aging, however, prospective studies with long-term follow-up are limited. We aimed to examine the association between midlife lifestyle factors such as diet, BMI, physical activity (PA), and smoking status with healthy aging.
We included 4846 women who responded to the 2018 or 2021 follow-up from the New York University Women’s Health Study, a prospective cohort of 14,274 women recruited in 1985-90. Lifestyle factors were assessed at baseline during midlife using standardized questionnaires. Healthy aging was determined based on absence of chronic diseases (cancer, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes Parkinson’s, and stroke), subjective memory complaints, mental health, and physical ability at age 70 or greater, as assessed on follow-up questionnaire (2018-2021). We estimated ORs for healthy aging in relation to each lifestyle factor, controlling for other lifestyle factors and confounders.
The OR(95% CI) for healthy aging were 1.33 (1.10-1.62) and 1.33 (1.09-1.61) in relation to medium and high levels of moderate-intensity PA, compared to low level. No association was observed for strenuous or mild PA. The association between total PA and healthy aging was stronger among non-white women than white women, and for women under 45 years of age at enrollment. The OR(95% CI) for healthy aging were 1.23 (1.02-1.50) and 1.32 (1.09-1.60) in relation to medium and high levels of midlife adherence to DASH diet, compared to low level. The OR(95% CI) for healthy aging were 0.48 (0.39-0.61) and 0.27 (0.17-0.41) for women who were overweight or obese, compared to those with normal weight in midlife. History of smoking was associated with lower odds of healthy aging (OR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.62-0.85).
Midlife lifestyle factors may be protective of cognitive function, physical ability, and absence of chronic disease later in life.