What is healthspan, and how can you maximize yours?

Much attention has been paid in recent years to life expectancy in the U.S., which remains lower than in many other industrialized nations that spend less on health care.

But with data suggesting 79% of adults 60 and older have two or more chronic illnesses – such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure – and more than half of young adults reporting at least one chronic condition, health experts are turning their focus to not just how long people manage to stay alive but the number of years they can expect to do so free of disease.

That's what's called a healthspan. And, like U.S. lifespans, these too have been shrinking.

"Healthspan means living better, not just longer," said Dr. Corey Rovzar, a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Prevention Research Center within the university's School of Medicine in California. "We're talking about those years that are free from any significant chronic disease or any significant disability that might affect one's quality of life."

Life expectancy has rebounded closer to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2023, the average number of years a newborn in the U.S. could expect to live was 78.4, down from 78.8 for babies born a decade earlier. Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization, the average healthspan for adults in the U.S. dropped from 65.3 years in 2000 to 63.9 years in 2021, the latest year for which such data is available. Women are expected to live longer than men and enjoy more years of better health.

Like lifespans, healthspans aren't calculated for individuals but for "an average person in the population," said Dr. Norrina Allen, vice chair for research in the department of preventive medicine and director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine in the Center for Epidemiology and Population Health, both at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

The good news is that the steps needed to extend a person's healthspan are likely to extend their lifespan as well, she said. "The factors that help prevent the onset of disease are also highly related to preventing your death from those diseases."

And there's a lot people can do to stretch out those good years.

Allen co-authored a 2022 report from the American Heart Association that detailed a checklist of eight health factors and lifestyle behaviors, known as Life's Essential 8, for improving and maintaining good cardiovascular health. Adherence to these same components has been shown to lower the risk for other chronic illnesses, promote healthy aging and contribute to both longer lifespans and healthspans.

The checklist includes not smoking, staying physically active, getting enough sleep and following a healthy eating pattern that includes whole foods and emphasizes consumption of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, seeds and cooking with olive oil. The checklist also calls for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and controlling cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

Limiting alcohol consumption also is advised by the AHA because drinking too much can increase the risk for high blood pressure, breast cancer, liver disease, stroke, heart disease and other health problems.

Beyond health factors and behaviors, strong family support, good mental health, access to good health care and a strong social network also contribute to a longer healthspan, Allen said. "These additional factors lay the groundwork for maintaining good health behaviors and ideal clinical factors," she said.

But trying to achieve all of them may feel daunting, especially for people not currently following healthy lifestyles, Rovzar said. She suggests making small changes to get started and gradually building new habits, one step at a time.

"Think intentionally about what you can do today," she said. "Add greens to your meal. Walk a little bit longer. Those things add up. People approach lifestyle changes as all or nothing, but we need to shift that mentality to recognizing that every little bit counts."

A 2022 study in Nature Medicine suggests even short bursts of physical activity – just a few bursts per day lasting a minute or two – may lower cancer and cardiovascular-related death risks. For substantial health benefits, the federal physical activity guidelines recommend getting at least 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity per week, along with muscle-strengthening activities twice a week. Adults who are physically unable to meet the recommendations because of chronic conditions or disabilities should be as physically active as possible, the guidelines say.

Rovzar encourages people to start building good habits early in life so they become easier to maintain over the life course. And, she said, remember that a healthy lifestyle "looks different for everyone. Find things that you enjoy doing. Don't try to become a runner if you don't like running. Chances are not high you're going to do it if you don't enjoy it."