New research shows that people who read lot live longer. study was carried out by researchers from Yale University in USA. The researchers said reading keeps mind active, helps reduce stress and makes us take better care of our health. The researchers said that books help brain more than newspapers and magazines, but any kind of reading will help us to live longer. Even reading for half hour a day could help us to live longer. In study, researchers looked at lifestyles of 3,500 men and women over 12-year period. They looked at their reading habits, health, lifestyle and their education. All of people were at least 50 years old at start of the research.
The study is in journal 'Social Science and Medicine'. It found that people who read for up to 3.5 hours a week were 17 per cent less likely to die during study’s 12-year research period than those who read no books. Those who read for more than 3.5 hours week were 23 per cent less likely to die. Researcher Becca Levy said: "Older individuals, regardless of gender, health, wealth or education, showed survival advantage of reading books." She suggested people swap watching TV for reading to live longer. She said: "Individuals over the age of 65 spend average of 4.4 hours per day watching television. Efforts to redirect leisure time into reading books could prove to be beneficial."
