There are many things we know can help us live longer. Eat your vegetables. Sleep. Do not smoke. Living with friends friends. But a new study now suggests that we can add one to this list: living close to the ocean.
One conducted by researchers from the Ohio State University (OSU) in the United States, he examined more than 66,000 people and compared his longevity based on proximity to water.
According to the results of the study, which was recently published in the magazine Environmental Researchthe people who live next to the coast They are more likely to live beyond the average age of 79 years.
Interestingly, residents in cities near lakes or rivers They didn’t do so well – often dying lightly earlier.
“In general, residents on the coast were expected live another year or more than the 79 -year -old averageand those who lived in more urban areas, near rivers and interior lakes, would probably die around 78, explains the environmental health scientist Jianyong Wumain author of the study, in Da Osu.
The investigators do not have a clear explanation For this life expectancy variation – which may be related to cleaner air, milder temperatures and better access to outdoor spaces.
There may also be a correlation, instead of a causal relationship: People who live on the coast also tend to have more financial resources that allow them to have better health care.
But This does not explain everything.
What surprised the researchers most was that Not all water is the same. Inner water in rural areas provided people with a slight increase in life expectancy. But in urban environments, it did not help NADthe. It may even have worsened things.
Factors such as pollution, poverty, flooding and lack of safe spaces to move like they seem cancel any benefits that the blue spaces can offer.
“We were surprised to find a so significant difference And clear between those who live near coastal waters and those who live near inland waters, ”says Wu.
The team expected that any area adjacent to water brought some benefit. Instead, The ocean had a more substantial effect what lakes or rivers – and do not understand why.
Maybe it’s the light, breeze or rhythm of the tides. Perhaps it is simply that living on the coast Encourages people to slow down – In a way that urban life does not allow, says to.
“It is likely that several social health determinantsincluding complex environmental factors, which contribute to the Health Inequalitiesbe playing a fundamental role in the differences we observe, ”suggests Yanni Caoalso researcher at OSU and co-author of the study.
Well, there goes the idea that life in the countryside does us good.
