A study using information from more than 100 countries has identified the minimum threshold for happiness, beyond which increasing levels protect against premature death from non-communicable diseases, according to Inside Precision Medicine.
The results, in Frontiers in Medicine, suggest that the health benefits of happiness only emerge in countries once their populations achieve a minimal level of subjective wellbeing.
The findings could be used for public health initiatives aimed at improving population health.
The researchers assessed happiness using a “Life Ladder” that measured subjective well-being—or happiness—with zero being the worst possible life and 10 being the greatest.
They found that happiness only acted as a population asset once a minimum threshold of approximately 2.7 was met on the Life Ladder scale, which would equate to the level of “just coping.”
Scores above this were associated with a decreased risk of death from non-communicable diseases.
“Identifying this tipping point could provide more accurate evidence for health policy,” said researcher Iulia Iuga, PhD, from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia in Romania. “Happiness is not just a personal feeling but also a measurable public health resource.”
The investigators pooled data from 123 countries collected between 2006 and 2021, sourced through health organizations, global development statistics, and public opinion polls.
The average Life Ladder score across the examined countries during the study period was 5.45, with a minimum of 2.18 and a maximum of 7.97.
They found that each one percent increase in subjective wellbeing beyond the 2.7 Life Ladder threshold was associated with an estimated 0.43% decrease in deaths due to non-communicable diseases among people aged between 30 and 70 years.
This occurred after controlling for behavioral, demographic, environmental, economic and institutional factors. Small increases in happiness below the 2.7 threshold did not appear to result in a reduction in these deaths.
“Within the observed range, we found no evidence of adverse effects from ‘excessive’ happiness,” Iuga noted.
Countries that exceeded the 2.7 threshold tend to have higher per-capita health expenditure, lower corruption, stronger social safety nets, and more stable governance than countries falling below it.
Obesity and alcohol consistently raised deaths, whereas urbanization turned from harmful to protective in situations of high happiness. Health spending remained protective, and GDP per capita mattered only once the threshold had been reached.
The authors point out that the prevalence of obesity and alcohol consumption retained strong positive associations with premature mortality from non-communicable diseases on both sides of the threshold.
They proposed: “Policy strategies that foster happiness by encouraging healthy diets, limiting marketing of calorie-dense foods, tightening alcohol taxation and availability, and embedding active-living infrastructure in city design are likely to produce a dual dividend: they push average wellbeing upward while simultaneously weakening two of the most powerful behavioral conduits to chronic disease.”
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