For anyone daunted by the pursuit of a healthier life, new research offers an encouraging proposition: the journey could begin with just five extra minutes in bed, a two-minute stroll, and a few more bites of broccoli at dinner. According to a major study, such seemingly trivial daily tweaks, when combined, could add a year or more to a person’s life expectancy.
The findings, from a team led by researchers at the University of Sydney, shift the focus from daunting lifestyle overhauls to manageable, incremental changes. Analysing detailed data from nearly 60,000 adults in the UK Biobank, the study suggests the power of what it terms the “SPAN” pillars: Sleep, Physical Activity, and Nutrition. The research indicates that it is the synergistic combination of small improvements across all three that delivers the most efficient boost to longevity.
The SPAN Principle: A Framework for Incremental Gain
The study, whose senior author is Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis of the University of Sydney, leveraged the UK Biobank’s rich dataset, which includes sleep and activity tracked by wearable devices and dietary habits from questionnaires. Participants, mostly in their 60s, were followed for an average of eight years. The researchers used this to model how different habit combinations influence lifespan and “healthspan”—the years lived without major illness or disability.
While an “optimal” balance associated with the longest, healthiest lives included just over seven hours of sleep, around 40 minutes of daily activity, and a high-quality diet, the more striking revelation was the benefit of minimal shifts. The model projected that for those with the poorest habits, even minor combined improvements could lift them out of the lowest health category.
Lead author Nicholas Koemel, a research fellow at the University of Sydney, and his colleagues quantified these minimal changes as an extra five minutes of sleep, two additional minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and a small dietary upgrade, such as half a serving of vegetables. The research suggests these tiny, collective adjustments can produce a stronger effect than a much larger change in just one area alone.
The Power of Synergy: Why the Whole Exceeds the Sum of Its Parts
“There seems to be a unique synergy,” said Professor Stamatakis, explaining the core finding. The study posits that healthy behaviours work most effectively as an integrated package. For instance, slightly better sleep may improve energy for daily activity, while improved nutrition can support recovery from exercise—each modest change reinforcing the others.
This synergy reduces the burden of change. To achieve similar projected benefits through a single behaviour, such as exercise alone, would require a far more substantial and potentially less sustainable effort. “We found changes could be more minimal when combined,” Stamatakis noted, making them easier to implement. He gives everyday examples: “Putting your phone away a little earlier in the evening might be enough” to gain five minutes of sleep, coupled with “taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work and using whole grain bread on a sandwich.”
The research briefing underscores that this approach aligns with a “start small” philosophy, where momentum and consistency are prioritised over intensity. For clinicians, it suggests moving away from a binary “pass/fail” mindset toward encouraging any incremental progress across SPAN’s three domains.
The benefits extend beyond mere longevity. The study indicated that more substantial combined improvements—such as 24 extra minutes of sleep, 3.7 extra minutes of exercise, and a 23-point increase on a diet quality score—were associated with gaining up to four additional years of healthy life, free from serious disability.
Diet quality, assessed via a scoring system, was characterised by higher intakes of vegetables, fruit, fish, whole grains, and dairy, and lower consumption of sugary drinks and processed meats.
The University of Sydney team, including Professor Stamatakis, has previously highlighted the value of short bursts of “incidental” or “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity” (VILPA), aligning with the principle that manageable snippets of movement count. While genetics also play a role in healthspan, involving factors like cellular senescence and inflammation, the study reinforces lifestyle as a powerful modifiable lever.
The researchers acknowledge the study’s observational nature, showing correlation rather than confirmed causation, and note limitations such as the use of self-reported dietary data and sometimes brief measurement periods for sleep and activity. However, the compelling message remains that a complete lifestyle overhaul is not a prerequisite for better health. Small, consistent steps in the right direction, woven together, can collectively weave a stronger safety net for a longer, healthier life.