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BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effects of lifestyle modification on biological aging in population-based studies of middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: We examined the individual and joint associations of multiple lifestyle factors with accelerated biological aging measured by change in frailty index (FI) over 8 years in a prospective study of Chinese adults. Data were obtained on 24,813 participants in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) on lifestyle factors and frailty status at baseline and at 8 years after baseline. Adherence to healthy lifestyle factors included non-smoking or quitting smoking for reasons other than illness, avoidance of heavy alcohol consumption, daily intake of fruit and vegetables, being physically active, body mass index (BMI) of 18.5-23.9 kg/m 2, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) <0.90 (men)/0.85 (women). FI was constructed separately at baseline and resurvey using 25 age- and health-related items. RESULTS: Overall, 8,760 (35.3%) individuals had a worsening frailty status. In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses, adherence to healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of worsening frailty status. Compared with robust participants maintaining 0-1 healthy lifestyle factors, the corresponding OR (95% CI) was 0.93 (0.83-1.03), 0.75 (0.67-0.84), 0.68 (0.60-0.77), and 0.55 (0.46-0.65) for robust participants with 2, 3, 4, and 5-6 healthy lifestyle factors. The decreased risk of frailty status worsening by adherence to healthy lifestyle factors was similar in both middle-aged and older adults, and in both robust and prefrail participants at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to a healthy lifestyle may attenuate the rate of change in biological aging in middle-aged and older Chinese adults.

Original publication

DOI

10.1093/gerona/glab213

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci

Publication Date

30/07/2021

Keywords

Lifestyle factor, epidemiology, frailty, longevity