Starting a Book Club will help you live longer

It’s science.

According to results published this week in BMJ Open, a UK medical journal, people enjoy healthier lives if they maintain social bonds after they retire.

Something like a book club, where you regularly meet friends and chat, can significantly reduce your risk of death in the first six years post-retirement.

The introduction to the paper states:

We argue that part of the variance in health and quality of life of retirees can be explained by the implications that retirement has for people’s social group memberships—and their social identities or the sense of self that is derived from membership in one or more social groups.

In more formal terms, we define a social group as a group of any form that a person is a member of and that he or she sees as an important part of their identity, eg A Book Club.

So there you have it. Not only can you enjoy a great book, spirited discussion, cheese, wine and juicy gossip, but you’ll also live longer with a book club in your life!

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About the Contributor

Andrew Cattanach

Andrew Cattanach is a regular contributor to The Booktopia Blog. He has been shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize and was named a finalist for the 2015 Young Bookseller of the Year Award. He enjoys reading, writing and sleeping, though finds it difficult to do them all at once.

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