Following five health habits by the age of 50 can add more than a decade of healthy life by holding off major diseases, scientists have found.

Harvard University discovered that people who ate a good diet, exercised, were a healthy body weight, did not smoke and did not drink too much, lived free of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer for far longer.

A woman who maintained all five habits by the age of 50 could expect to live to 84 years and four months before succumbing to any of the illnesses, compared to a woman who followed none, who would develop at least one by the age of 73 years and eight months.

Men who did not follow any of the healthy behaviours were also likely to develop one of the three conditions by 73 years and one month, but could stave off the deterioration until 81 years and six months by living well.

The five tips for a healthy decade

Good diet Exercise Maintain healthy body weight No smoking Moderate drinking

"Previous studies have found that following a healthy lifestyle improves overall life expectancy and reduces risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, but few studies have looked at the effects of lifestyle factors on life expectancy free from such diseases," said first author Dr Yanping Li, a senior research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.