What's the exact age at which bad youth habits 'take their toll'? This is what science says.

Bad habits are considered behaviors or actions that are performed repeatedly, but tend to be unhealthy, so over time they can cause physical and mental harm to people.

In this sense, there are different types of inappropriate activities, such as smoking, excessive drinking, not getting the recommended amount of sleep, eating unhealthy foods, procrastination, and even stress, which can affect the well-being of the body or brain in the long term.

According to a report published by the Community Prevention Unit for Addictive Behaviors (UPCCA), these types of activities are adopted into daily routines because they are performed automatically over and over again.

In response, the Annals of Medicine conducted a study on smoking and unhealthy behaviors that impair people's health, which found evidence of an increased risk of depressive symptoms and a reduction in metabolism.

Meanwhile, research at Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland found that bad habits accumulated from adolescence to adulthood often have significant consequences between the ages of 30 and 36.

Eating foods high in sugar, processed fats, and ultra-processed foods can trigger insulin resistance, leading to obesity and high cholesterol.

Furthermore, not having a training routine or avoiding any type of physical activity causes a significant reduction in the body's muscle mass for every decade that no exercise is done.

However, the negative effects are not only at the physical level, as mental health also tends to be severely affected by bad habits, giving way to a lack of emotional self-care, chronic stress, depression or anxiety .

According to the American Association of Retired Persons, there are some strategies that help create new habits , avoiding feelings of guilt and progressively eliminating behaviors that are inappropriate for the well-being of the human body.

DIGITAL REACH EDITORIAL