We are living longer and longer! Life expectancy at birth for Greek men is now 79 years and for Greek women 83. It is not enough, however, simply to live for more years, as we grow older we all wish to stay active and vigorous, participating fully in family and social life and remaining productive members of society. Thanks to the extensive gerontological research of the past 50 years, we now know what we can do to improve our health and quality of life as we grow older, through measures to promote health and prevent diseases and accidents and by maintaining and improving our physical and mental abilities, as well as our participation in social life.
What should we do?

According to the World Health Organisation, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO 1948).

Therefore, to improve out health overall, we need to change many of our bad lifestyle habits such as by:

• stopping smoking whatever our age
• gradually increasing our everyday activity and exercise
• consuming a healthy and balanced diet and losing weight in order to improve our physical health status and
• remaining mentally active and learning new skills
• maintaining our personal relationships and contacts and making new friends for better mental and social well-being.

Health and Quality of life
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Mental Health
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