longevity

Lots of people think it's okay, normal even, to pack on 10 pounds or more a decade. We call it middle-age spread. But, those extra pounds may decrease a woman's risk of leading a long, healthy life free of chronic disease.

Published in the British Medical Journal, this latest study to tackle the connection between weight gain and life expectancy, found the more weight a woman gained in mid-life, the less likely she was to be healthy and disease free (or even alive) after age 70.

At 113 years of age, Walter Breuning has seen a lot (and I mean A LOT) of fad diets come and go. So what's the dietary secret to his longevity?

Eating less... yup, that's pretty much it!

Breuning was born in 1896. Before we get into how he defies father time, let that sink in for a minute... eighteen freaking ninety-six! Here's what was going on around the time Walter was born:

As many as 50 million Americans are living sedentary lives, putting them at increased risk of health problems and even early death. This according to researcher Steven Blair, who called Americans' physical inactivity "the biggest public health problem of the 21st century."

A new study of data from 1,326 Canadians suggests that carrying a few extra pounds may actually help you to live longer.

The findings were published in the online journal Obesity, and the results tie in with previous research, including a study carried out in 2007 which drew the same conclusions.