The age when effects of smoking, drinking and lack of exercise can seriously harm your body

The impact of unhealthy habits such as smoking and not exercising enough can be felt as early as age 36, a new study reveals.

Researchers warn that smoking, excessive drinking, and insufficient exercise take their toll by this age, potentially leading to years of ill health. The findings underscore the importance of addressing these behaviours early in adulthood and midlife.

The study, published in the Annals of Medicine, followed 326 individuals over 30 years, beginning at age 27. Researchers from Finnish universities tracked participants' health at ages 36, 42, 50, and finally at 61, when 206 remained in the study.

The research team assessed both mental and physical health. Mental wellbeing was gauged through surveys focusing on depression symptoms and psychological wellbeing.

Physical health was evaluated using a metabolic risk score, incorporating factors such as blood pressure, waist circumference, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and other blood fats.

The well-established dangers of smoking include lung cancer, heart problems, and respiratory issues. Similarly, a sedentary lifestyle and excessive alcohol consumption are linked to serious health risks, including various cancers, stroke, heart attacks, and premature death.

People were also asked to rate their health over the previous year.

Symptoms of depression and overall psychological wellbeing were measured on a scale of 1-4; self-rated health was measured on a scale of 1-5; and metabolic risk was scored from 0-5.

Three risky behaviours were assessed at each point in time – smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity (exercising less than once a week).

The results of the study showed that if people had all three unhealthy habits at a given point in time, their mental and physical health were worse than if they had none.

In particular, depressive symptoms rose by 0.1 points, metabolic risk score rose by 0.53 points, psychological wellbeing fell by 0.1 points and self-rated health fell by 0.45 points.

Furthermore, 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 if this was the case.

Dr Tiia Kekalainen, a health scientist who worked on the study, said: “Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer cause almost three-quarters of deaths worldwide.

“But by following a healthy lifestyle, an individual can cut their risk of developing these illnesses and reduce their odds of an early death.

“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 from building up over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in life.

“However, it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age.”

The researchers wrote that “the findings of the present study suggest that the associations were mainly similar across time from age 36 to 61”.

They added: “Thus, the cumulative association of earlier risky behaviours exists already at age 36 and not only in the later phases of midlife.”