HEALTHY RESOLUTIONS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
Many people see the dawn of a new
year as the perfect time to implement
changes that they hope will
have positive impacts on their lives in
the year ahead. New Year’s resolutions
have a way of falling by the wayside as
the year progresses, but sticking with
the following healthy resolutions can
have lasting impacts on the lives of
men and women:
READ MORE
Many adults wish they had more
time to read, but busy schedules fi lled
with commitments to work and family
can make it hard to pick up a book
every day. But perhaps more men and
women would fi nd time to read if they
knew doing so could add years to their
lives.
In an analysis of 12 years of data
from the University of Michigan’s
Health and Retirement Study, researchers
at the Yale School of Public
Caribbean L 26 ife, Jan. 11–17, 2019
Health found that people who read
books for as little as 30 minutes a day
over several years lived an average of
two years longer than people who did
not read at all.
SLEEP MORE
More time to sleep might seem like
an unattainable goal for many men
and women. But the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute notes that
ongoing sleep defi ciency can increase
a person’s risk for chronic health problems,
including heart disease, kidney
disease, high blood pressure, diabetes,
and stroke. The American Academy
of Sleep Medicine recommends adults
age 18 and older get between seven and
eight hours of sleep per night.
TURN OFF YOUR DEVICES
As recently as 15 years ago, many
adults made it through their days without
smartphones, tablets, e-readers,
and other devices that are so prevalent
today. While it might seem impossible
to live without such devices in the 21st
century, turning them off can have
profound impacts on people’s quality
of life.
A 2013 survey of more than 1,000
people conducted by the resilience platform
meQuilibrium found that 73 percent
of respondents felt their devices
contributed to stress in their lives. The
American Psychological Association
notes that stress can negatively affect
the musculoskeletal system, the respiratory
system and the nervous system
and potentially increase a person’s
risk for heart disease and gastrointestinal
problems.
WORK LESS
Working fewer hours may help
many professionals cut back on their
stress, as the American Psychological
Association notes that 65 percent
of Americans cited work as their primary
source of stress. But working
fewer hours may also make men and
women more productive.
A recent experiment funded by the
Swedish government compared nurses
at a retirement home who worked sixhour
days on eight-hour salaries to a
control group that worked the more traditional
eight-hour workday. Nurses in
the experimental group reported having
more energy in their spare time
and at work, which allowed them to do
64 percent more activities with facility
residents. Nurses in the experimental
group also took half as much sick
time as those in the control group. As
a result, the study’s authors ultimately
concluded that productivity can increase
with fewer hours worked.
Committing to healthy New Year’s
resolutions can have profound and
unexpected consequences that can
greatly improve one’s quality of life.
LIVING HEALTHY IN THE NEW YEAR