One long-term study of almost 12,000 people of all sizes pinpointed four important lifestyle habits for living a healthier, longer life: eating five or more servings of fruits or vegetables daily, not smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, and exercising at least twelve times per month. In the study, these habits were associated with a significant decrease in mortality regardless of BMI—in other words, the people who practiced those four healthy habits lived longer, regardless of whether they were categorized as “normal weight” or “obese.”
