Gesundheitswesen
DOI: 10.1055/a-2903-6433

Changes in everyday life have great potential to promote a long and healthy life. At the same time, these changes are also climate-friendly in many areas, as they either reduce emissions or increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. This article provides an overview of everyday life changes in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and housing. It describes the current lifestyles of older adults in Austria based on statistics on health, time use, mobility and nutrition, as well as consumer surveys. However, lifestyle changes are not presented solely as a matter of individual behavior; the article also highlights the critical role of structural aspects such as infrastructure and public access, supply and price structures. We focus on the impact chains, which, based on the scientific literature, illustrate the pathways through which changes in everyday life have a beneficial effect on health and climate protection or for resilience.Finally, a secondary effect becomes relevant: A more health-promoting everyday life reduces the number of years spent in ill-health, thereby lowering the demand for medical treatment. This benefits both health and the climate, as hospital stays can strain mental health and carry the risk of secondary diseases. Further, as medical care is carbon-intensive, avoiding hospitalizations reduces greenhouse gas emissions.The intensifying impact of climate change increasingly requires a transition in key areas such as mobility, leisure, housing and nutrition. This transition offers an opportunity to make climate-friendly and healthy everyday life the new attractive norm. Health benefits can serve as a compelling argument for climate mitigation, which in turn can act as a lever for creating healthy living conditions in times of inevitable change. As global warming increases, so do the climate risks to human health, and the risk of crop failures, water shortages and damage to settlements and infrastructure. Yet a decisive transition has the potential to promote a good and healthy aging for all.
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Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

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