By Susan Reda
Is shopping a form of retail therapy?
Which is better for your long-term health, shopping or going to the gym? Shopping … really. It turns out that retail therapy helps you live longer -- and the benefits are actually greater for men.
According to research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, regular shopping trips -- which typically include seeing friends and/or people-watching -- can help stave off loneliness and improve psychological health.
The research comes from a study conducted in Taiwan. Researchers looked at nearly 1,850 people aged 65 and older living independently at home. Participants were asked how often they went shopping, and researchers tracked how long the participants lived by linking them to national death registration data between 1999 and 2008.
Those who shopped on a daily basis lived longer than those who shopped less frequently -- and this was true even after taking into account individuals’ physical or other health issues.
The study found that daily shopping reduced the chances of participants dying during the study period by more than one-quarter, compared with those who didn’t shop as regularly. Older men who frequently went shopping had the best chances of survival: Their chances of dying during the study period declined 28 percent.
