If people would just do four things — engage in regular physical activity, eat a healthy diet, not smoke and avoid becoming obese — they could slash their risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke or cancer by 80%, a new report has found.
But less than 10% of the 23,153 people in the multiyear study — published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine — actually lived their lives this way.
A BMI under 30 lowered overall disease risk most — particularly for diabetes.
Never smoking reduced heart attack risk the most of all four factors.
“All of them are important, and trying to pick one is like asking someone to pick their favorite child,” said study coauthor Dr. Earl S. Ford, a senior scientist in the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.
Born Curious 
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