I was reminded this week of the longest-standing study in health and happiness.

I stumbled across it a couple of years ago when browsing TED Talks, which is one of my favourite ways to waste time. It makes procrastination feel that little bit more noble.

The Harvard study started back in 1938 and is still going to this day. Rather than focus on disease, this study set out to discover what made people healthy.

Then World War 2 happened.

The results coming in were fascinating and they managed to keep the research going. After the war, in the poverty and rationing that followed, the results were equally fascinating.

The researchers weren’t finding what they expected. Continue reading →