If you want to improve your chances for a long life, quit smoking and your high-stress job, lose weight, move to Hong Kong and start making necklaces out of beads.
We hear so much about communities where people live long, healthy, happy lives. The world’s Blue Zones have been studied repeatedly with findings suggesting we eat more fish, walk and bike whenever we can and meditate a lot. But clearly, whether you are working fewer hours in Oslo or eating kimchee in Seoul, the kind of work you do also plays a role.
In the article, “Life Expectancy by Profession,” Life Expectancy Calculator states that although there is no data to suggest definitively which profession has the longest life expectancy, it does infer that certain groups of workers have a better chance at living a longer life.
“For instance, white-collar workers have longer life expectancies than blue-collar workers, writes Bloomberg, and that life-expectancy gap is continuing to get larger.”
Higher-earning workers live longer than lower-income workers, “…men in the top 1% of wealth live almost 15 years longer than men in the bottom 1%, according to CNN.”
And it confirms that a high-stress profession can kill us, eventually, shortening our life “by as much as 33 years.” Yikes!
The website refers to a list of the least stressful jobs identified by Business News Daily. Among the top 10 least stressful jobs are: audiologist, tenured university professor, jeweler and massage therapist.
Not necessarily surprising news, but how about this – Business News Daily also lists the most stressful jobs, which have the potential to shorten our life expectancy. These include first responders, pilots and taxi drivers, of course. But right in there alongside these jobs are broadcasters, event coordinators, reporters and public relations executives! Double Yikes!
I’d rather be surprised, but if you want to take a short quiz to estimate your life expectancy – go to lifeexpectancycalculator.com.
If you want to improve your chances for a long life, quit smoking and your high-stress job, lose weight, move to Hong Kong and start making necklaces out of beads. FBN
By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
Bonnie Stevens is the editor of QCBN. She is a career journalist and public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.