Researchers in Manitoba studied older people who had hobbies over a 6 year time frame. They measured well-being by checking levels of life satisfaction and happiness, as well as measuring physical and cognitive function.

The study found that hobbies were highly important in helping people age successfully, and that different types of hobbies may have different benefits;

• Social and productive hobbies promote physical benefits,

(physical and cognitive function and greater lifespan)

• More solitary hobbies (like reading) promote psychological benefits

(greater sense of happiness and engagement with life)

One of my hobbies is photography; here's a link to my Flickr site

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidahowell/

What's your hobby? If you don't have one, maybe it's worth pursuing for your physical & emotional health.

Here's a link to the study article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12646596

#hobby #mentalacuity #sidebar