Golf Prolongs Life

[onedomino]

But if your golf extended life is in San Francisco, you may be too poor to enjoy the extra years. Play twice a week at a good course in the Bay Area and you are easily spending $800 per month on golf. That's an economic triple bogey.

Golf Prolongs Life

Complete article: Golf prolongs life | Eureka! Science News

Golf can be a good investment for the health, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The death rate for golfers is 40 per cent lower than for other people of the same sex, age and socioeconomic status, which correspond to a 5 year increase in life expectancy. Golfers with a low handicap are the safest. (Obviously) It is a well-known fact that exercise is good for the health, but the expected health gains of particular activities are still largely unknown. A team of researchers from Karolinska Institutet has now presented a study of the health effects of golf – a low-intensity form of exercise in which over 600,000 Swedes engage.

The study, which is published in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, is based on data from 300,000 Swedish golfers and shows that golf has beneficial health effects. The death rate amongst golfers is 40 per cent lower than the rest of the population, which equates to an increased life expectancy of five years.

Professor Anders Ahlbom, who has led the study with Bahman Farahmand is not surprised at the result, as he believes that there are several aspects of the game that are proved to be good for the health.

"A round of golf means being outside for four or five hours, walking at a fast pace for six to seven kilometres, something which is known to be good for the health," he says. "People play golf into old age, and there are also positive social and psychological aspects to the game that can be of help."

 

[jillian]

$800 a month? Still less than I pay for insurance on two cars and my homeowners policy. lol...

 

[Justme08]

But if your golf extended life is in San Francisco, you may be too poor to enjoy the extra years. Play twice a week at a good course in the Bay Area and you are easily spending $800 per month on golf. That's an economic triple bogey.

Great article - one I would have misse