Nurses' Health Study Confirms Lifestyle Factors Associated with Excess Mortality Risk

Smoking, overweight, lack of exercise, and poor diet were associated with excess cardiovascular, cancer, and all-cause mortality in 24-year study.

Beginning in 1980, 77,782 female U.S. nurses (age range, 34–59) without cardiovascular disease or cancer completed periodic questionnaires about lifestyle factors that have known or suspected associations with those diseases. In this prospective cohort study, researchers focused on five high-risk lifestyle factors: body-mass index ≥25 kg/m² at baseline, history of ever smoking, physical activity <30 minutes daily, low diet-quality score, and no or heavy alcohol use at baseline and during follow-up.

During 24 years of follow-up, 8882 women died: 1790 from cardiovascular disease and 4527 from cancer. Elevated BMI, smoking, low physical activity, and low-quality diet each were associated independently and significantly with excess all-cause, ca…

Reviewing Author

Paul S. Mueller, MD, MPH, FACP

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Paul S. Mueller, MD, MPH, FACP

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose