A positive message is emerging that small changes towards healthier behaviours can increase lifespan. Specifically, sleep, physical activity, and nutrition (SPAN) are the focus of research on modifiable risk factors for improving lifespan.
“Both insufficient and excessive sleep have been shown to disrupt normal metabolic and brain health through mechanisms such as impaired glycaemic control, inflammation, and dysregulation of appetite hormones. Physical inactivity contributes to one in six deaths in the UK and plays a major role in the progression of age-related chronic diseases. Poor diet quality and excess caloric intake adversely affect cardio-metabolic health and are central to the global obesity epidemic. Collectively, SPAN behaviours are linked with increased risk of leading causes of NCD-related morbidity and mortality, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), certain cancers, type II diabetes, dementia, and respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)” (Koemel et al 2026 p2).
The two key concepts are “lifespan”, which is the life expectancy, while “healthspan” is the “years lived free of major chronic disease” (Koemel et al 2026 p2).
Koemel et al (2026) analysed UK Biobank data collected on 100 000 middle-aged UK adults in the early part of the 21st century. Physical activity and sleep duration were calculated from a wrist-worn accelerometer for seven days between 2013 and 2015, while a food frequency questionnaire for a twelve-month period was completed once between 2006 and 2010. The outcome measures were all-cause mortality, and five major non-communicable diseases (CVD, cancer, type II diabetes, COPD, and dementia) by the end of 2022.
Comparing the highest ten percent longer living individuals and the lowest 10%, it was calculated that lifespan could be improved by five minutes extra sleep per day, two minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (eg: walking at equivalent of 4-5 km per hour), and an additional half serving of vegetables per day, for example, and healthspan could be improved by 24 minutes more sleep, four minutes more MVPA, and approximately one cup more of vegetables per day. These improvements were calculated to give one additional year of lifespan and four additional years of healthspan. The conclusion was that “[S]mall changes across multiple SPAN behaviours may be more behaviourally sustainable, compared to large changes in each single SPAN behaviour” (Koemel et al 2026 p2).