The best way to live longer is by taking action in our midlife years, according to findings by The Age-Well Project – a blog and now a book pulling together research on how to achieve a healthy older age. The project was created by Annabel Streets and Susan Saunders, who met when they were both raising families and working full-time. Both had watched loved ones die far too early from dementia, heart disease and cancer – or worse, living out their so-called golden years blighted by illness.

Inspired, they started agewellproject. com. Here are their easy ways to improve your chances of a longer, healthier, happier life.

✢ KEEP EXERCISING Find ways of incorporating movement into your daily life

With so many of us in sedentary careers, more movement is imperative. Research shows that lack of exercise is an important predictor of death from any cause.

A study of the Blue Zone