Also if you shop regularly then you are probably likely to be financially better off and and buy fresh food frequently this in turn means you are likely to be heatlhier than those who can’t afford to shop reguarly and therefore can’t afford private medical treatment, fresh fruit and veg etc.

It’s the interaction with the shop assistant!

No wonder women live longer

Agree with Symeon you guys need to use headlines that more accurately reflect the truth. Here’s a suggestion ;)

” Shopping behaviour captures several dimensions of personal well-being, health and security as well as contributing to the community’s cohesiveness and economy and may represent or actually confer increased longevity.”

Or, if your editor refuses to go with this one, how about a compromise?

“Frequent shopping may make you live longer according to study.”

While the rush to an eye-grabbing “Shopping Is Good For You”-type headline is understandable, it must be noted that the local and contemporary term “shopping”, which closely approximates “retail therapy”, is far from “shopping” as used in the research in question, which refers by and large to going to the shops to buy groceries for one’s subsistence.

Let’s also not forget that correlation does not mean causation, a fact respected by the researchers but lost on the article. The phrase “[...] frequent shopping by men and women increases survival [...]” is deeply flawed. According to the research conclusion, “Shopping [...] may represent or actually confer increased longevity.” which is a million miles away. The implication is that it could be that healthier people are more inclined to get out of their house (which they are), do their shopping themselves (which they do). And, guess what: healthier people tend to live longer. Controlling for health is notoriously difficult, a fact the researchers acknowledge.

Finally, it’s clear that the most important vector of “shopping”, as pertains to health benefits, is the “getting out of the house and walking” part, a far cry from “window-shopping and buying shoes” which the article implies. Even the research conclusion points to the socioeconomic element of shopping as something that “[...] contribut(es) to the community’s cohesiveness and economy [...]“, as opposed to conferring any actual health benefits.

So let’s try to maintain a little perspective, shall we?