Effect of health habits and depression on healthy ageing in both males and females

Pages: 1-6
Jasmine Dhaliwal (Department of Psychology, Guru Nanak Khalsa College for women, Ludhiana)
Meena Sehgal (Department of Psychology, Panjab University, Chandigarh)

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of health habits and depression on healthy ageing both in males and females. The primary aim of the present investigation was to identify the effect of health habits and depression on Healthy Ageing. For this purpose two indices of Ageing were taken viz., Positive Fitness as an index of Healthy Ageing and Negative fitness as an index of Unhealthy Ageing. Health Habits, Depression measured by Beck Inventory were studied in relation to ageing. In addition the effects of gender and age on the parameters of Healthy Ageing were also assessed. The sample comprised of 200 elderly adults. Healthy ageing was found to be positively related to health habits and negatively related to depression. Gender differences were also found to be significant with a result of males being healthier compared to females. This study shows that sustained physical activity and good eating habits as well as lower levels of depression lead to healthier ageing.