Tickets to Health and Happiness

According to an article in the November 2011 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, attending a performance of the Nutcracker may provide more than entertainment. It could improve your health, say researchers in Norway. When they crunched data from more than 50,000 people on activities like museum visits, singing, volunteering, painting, and attending concerts or sporting events, they found that engaging in arts and culture, watching as well as doing, was linked with higher self-scores of physical and emotional health. And it wasn't just that people who had the cash for evenings out could also afford better health care, or that folks who enjoyed good health were more likely to go out. The connection held even when researchers controlled for wealth and a range of health factors. Don't worry if your tastes run more to Lady Gaga than Lady of the Camellias. “The activities don't have to be highbrow, just emotionally engaging or creative,” says lead author Koenraad Frans Cuypers.