Poor health habits can accelerate death by the equivalent of 12 years compared with good habits.

A study of 63,791 Chinese women in the Shanghai Women’s Health Study, age 40-70, who never smoked or used alcohol, reports the combined effects of 5 health habits reduce mortality from all causes by 47%. These health habits included normal weight, lower waist-hip ratio, daily exercise, never exposed to spouse's smoking, and higher daily fruit and vegetable intake. Women with 0-1 of these were found to have death rates equivalent to those 12 years older than their age.

PositiveTip: How are your health habits? Invest now in choosing a healthier lifestyle.

Where you carry the fat is less important than being overweight in general.

Are "apple-shaped" bodies, or "pear-shaped" bodies at greater risk for cardiovascular disease? Turns out that simply being overweight, whatever the shape, increases risks for heart disease. Researchers looked at data from a very large study of 221,934 people and found that body-mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference all equally predicted the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease when added to blood pressure, diabetes history and lipid measurements. 

PositiveTip: Losing extra weight, no matter how or where you carry it, is important for your health.