How to improve healthspan

Tobacco harms health. If you smoke, quitting is a meaningful step at any age. A healthcare professional or local stop-smoking service can help you choose support suited to your situation.

Physical activity supports cardiovascular health, strength and day-to-day function. Walking, cycling and other activities you can sustain are useful starting points. Reduce long periods of sitting and include muscle-strengthening activity suited to your ability.

If you have symptoms, an existing condition or concerns about exercising safely, seek individual guidance before making major changes.

A balanced diet includes a variety of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and pulses. Focus on a pattern you can maintain rather than a supplement or product promising extra years. Personal dietary needs can differ, especially with medical conditions.

Give yourself a regular opportunity for adequate sleep and discuss persistent sleep problems with a healthcare professional. Alcohol carries health risks; do not start drinking for a supposed longevity benefit. If reducing alcohol is difficult, seek support.

Follow locally recommended screening and vaccination advice, and discuss blood pressure or other risk factors with your healthcare professional. Relationships, community and activities that matter to you are also part of wellbeing.

Use the free assessment to see your estimated healthy years alongside total lifespan. Then change one habit at a time in the simulator and compare the model’s response with your original answers.

The comparison helps you explore the model’s assumptions. It does not measure the effect of a treatment or prove that a change will add years to your life.

These are population-level associations, several of them observational. They describe how averages differ between groups. They do not guarantee that any individual change adds a specific number of years to any individual life.