Cecily O'Connor
RedwoodAge.com

Boomers who party now and work stressful jobs with the idea they'll tone it down later in life may want to rethink that strategy. 

Living well throughout life is vital to maintaining "exceptional health" in old age, according to a new study.

Adults are more likely to thrive in their old age if they have a positive outlook and lower stress levels, knock back less alcohol, say no to tobacco, enjoy a moderate to higher income and are free of chronic health conditions, said researchers from Portland State University, the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, and Oregon Health & Science University in the Journals of Gerontology, Medical Sciences.

"Many of these factors can be modified when you are young or middle-aged," said Dr. David Feeny, co-author and senior investigator at Kaiser's Center for Health Research. "While these findings may seem like common sense, now we have evidence about which factors contribute to exceptional health during retirement years."

'Thrivers'
To determine these factors, about 2,432 adults in Canada filled out a health survey every other year between 1994 and 2004. One measure, called the "health utilities index" asked people to rate their abilities in eight categories, including vision, hearing, speech, ambulation, dexterity, emotion, cognition, and pain.

"Thrivers" were those who regarded themselves as having no or only mild disability in all eight categories on at least five of the six surveys. If respondents reported moderate or severe disability on any of the six surveys, they were classified as not having a high quality of life or excellent health.

There are many ways middle-age adults are improving their habits. That includes taking supplements as preventative medicine or getting a better hold of their financial picture to plan for a fruitful retirement. 

But one's health status and well-being can easily change over time. As they age, many boomers will confront significant health problems related to obesity and high blood pressure, among other conditions. Those health problems can take a toll in many ways, especially if a disability contributes to financial problems down the road and a boomer is forced to exit the workforce ahead of schedule.

Little over half of the respondents started out as "thrivers," but by the end of the 10 years, 8 percent of the respondents were part of that group. At the end of 2004, 47 percent of the respondents were classified as not having a high quality of life or excellent health. Thirty-six percent had died and 9 percent were institutionalized.

While the study was conducted in Canada, the findings are applicable to the US and other industrialized nations, said Dr. Bentson McFarland, co-author and professor of psychiatry, public health and preventive medicine at Oregon Health & Science University.

"Our population here in the United States is similar demographically to Canada's," McFarland said. "And both health care systems rely on the same underlying technologies."