Retail Therapy Genuinely Therapeutic - For Taiwanese Seniors
As Sheena Hastings of the Yorkshire Post put it, "shopping may be good for your health and even prolong life." She further explained, "You don't have to suffer ... shopping mania ... to know that it's fun. If you're feeling low but don't have much cash to spare, a little something new like a lipstick, an item of underwear or a paperback can put a smile back on your face. That's why we call it retail therapy."
Discussing research conducted by Taiwan's Institute of Population Health Sciences, Ms. Hastings noted that "Even having adjusted for physical and mental infirmity, men and women who shopped daily lived longer than those who didn't shop at all. ... Those who shopped regularly lived longer than those who shopped just once a week or less, and those who shopped every day were likely to live longest." As for reasons, she says the findings suggest, "Shopping may encompass companionship, exercise and an opportunity to maintain a healthy diet."
A more detailed report of the study in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (JECH) reports its conclusion that "Shopping behaviour favorably predicts survival. Highly frequent shopping may favor men more than women. Shopping 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."
Studying some 2,000 Taiwanese men and women aged over 65 who all lived in their own home, "took into account demographics, socioeconomic status, health behaviours, shopping frequencies, physical function and cognitive function, linking them to official death records for almost 10 years," according to JECH. Explaining that "active ageing is a key to healthy ageing," results also showed "elderly who shopped every day have 27 percent less risk of death than the least frequent shoppers. Men benefited more from everyday shopping than women."
David Oliver, visiting professor of medicine for older people at City University, London, told the BBC the findings "made sense." Sarah Jane Robinson, principal lecturer in psychology at Huddersfield University told the Yorkshire Post, "It's not so much about the shopping itself, but moving around, seeing people and enjoying the sheer unpredictability of what might happen when you mosey around the local grocery shop or go down town."