Join us live as Dr. Robert Waldinger, a Harvard psychiatrist, discusses what it takes to live a healthy and long life.
In 1939, researchers enrolled 268 students from Harvard during the Great Depression. By 2017, only 19 of those original recruits were still alive.
So what did these researchers learn?
The Harvard Study of Adult Development has shown that the greatest determinant of a healthy, happy, and long life was not wealth. Nor was it cholesterol levels or other biomarkers.
By age 50, the greatest determinant of whether the person would live to 80 and be healthy was the quality of the personās relationships. Which means that cultivating a meaningful relationshipāwith a romantic partner, a family member, or a friendāactually cultivates our health in the long term.