Health - Checklist For the Decades

How to look after your health through the decades

A healthy lifestyle is always important – but do your needs change at different ages? Liz Connor talks to some experts.

Living well is important at any age, but experts say our health priorities can change as we get older.

While the principles of exercising regularly, eating well and managing stress will always be relevant, there may also be specific things you can do – at each milestone decade – to make sure you’re harnessing your full healthy potential.

So, what are they? We asked health experts to share their tips for happy, healthy aging, and looking after yourself at different stages of life…

In your 20s you should… support your bones and set good habits

Our bones carry on developing into our late-20s, so it’s important we continue to get plenty of calcium and vitamin D during these years, says Dr Naveen Puri, a lead physician at Bupa Health Clinics (bupa.co.uk).

As well as taking eating a good diet and taking supplements where necessary, he adds that resistance-based exercise, like weight training, can help strengthen bones, as well as repetitive activities such as hiking, jogging and playing tennis.

“Once your bones stop growing, they typically stop getting stronger and can slowly weaken in the longer term,” warns Puri. “As such, helping them develop in your 20s will set good foundations as you get older.”

Your early adult life is also a great time to avoid too many unhealthy lifestyle choices. “When we’re young, we might not notice the impact of drinking too much or smoking, but now is the ideal time to minimise these habits,” says Puri.

“Drinking too much on a regular basis is linked to a host of long-term health conditions, from high blood pressure and heart disease, through to liver disease and certain types of cancer. Similarly, smoking is heavily linked to issues like cancer, heart and lung disease, strokes, and diabetes.”

In your 30s you should… eat well and protect your mental health