BYU has been known for its No. 1 rank in the Princeton Review as the nation's most "stone cold sober" university for the tenth year in a row. BYU is also well-recognized for the Honor Code, which requires students to abstain from tobacco and alcohol and attend church regularly. What many students may not recognize, howevever, is that following these principles can have a significant effect on them later in life.

A recent study by the University of Cambridge found that individuals who don't smoke, don't drink, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and exercised regularly added about 14 years to their lives.

Kay-Tee Khaw of the University of Cambridge and his colleagues tracked 20,000 people in the United Kingdom between the ages of 45 and 79 since 1993.

The participants were given a health questionnaire that gave a point to each person for not smoking, having regular physical activity, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and had moderate alcohol intake. The researchers then tracked the deaths from all causes until 2006, and found those that scored four points were four times less likely to die than those who scored zero.

"We've known for a long time that these behaviors are good things to do, but we've never seen these additive benefits before," said Susan Jebb, head of nutrition and health at Britain's Medical Research Council, to the Associated Press.

Richard Bullough, the Utah Department of Health's diabetes prevention and control program manager, agreed more physical activity and low tobacco use increased life expectancy.

"Obesity and a lack of physical activity and poor nutrition effect diabetes," Bullough said. "Less physical activity with tobacco makes risk factors for diabetes drastically worse. Tobacco is a risk factor for many diseases, and it's no different with diabetes."

Ray Merrill, a professor of health science at BYU, said Utah's low tobacco use was a factor to higher life expectancy.

"Current tobacco smoking in Utah is approximately 6.5 percent," Merrill said. "The smoking percentage nationally is 23.2 percent."

Meghan Lane, the wellness coordinator at Utah County Healthy Lifestyles, agreed Utah has a healthier lifestyle.

"Utah's smoking and drinking rates are significantly lower than the U.S.," Lane said. "Utah is definitely healthier."

Lane said eating five to nine servings of vegetables and fruits per day can add up to a year and a half to a person's life and said the Utah Department of Health program promotes healthy lifestyles that affect life expectancy.

"I promote healthy lifestyles so people can have not only a longer life, but years of healthy living," Lane said. "We have exercise programs and a book of fast food nutrition so people can eat healthy food when they go out."

According to a health status update by the Department of Health, Utah achieves the lowest rates of smoking, incidence of lung cancer and mortality from lung cancer in the United States, and was the only state to meet the Healthy People 2000 goal to reduce cigarette smoking to no more than 15 percent.

A study at Harvard University found Utah was the third state in the nation with the highest life expectancy, with the average age about 78.7 years.

A study by Merrill found religion can be an additional factor to increased life expectancy as well. Merrill found a number of factors were associated with religious activity, such as better physical health, healthier lifestyle behaviors and increased life expectancy.

Merrill found in one study of 21,000 adults in the United States that those with religious attendance at least once a week was associated with seven years of additional life expectancy. These lifestyles have been mirrored by many individuals in Utah, which has about 70 percent of the state's population who are Latter-day Saints.

Merrill's study investigated and compared the life expectancy among LDS and non-LDS in Utah. He found the average life expectancy for LDS males was 77.3 years and was 82.2 years for females; for non-LDS males the average was 70 years and 76.4 years for females. Merrill said tobacco accounted for about 1.5 years for the difference in life expectancy.

"We tried to explain why LDS lifestyles have a higher life expectancy," Merrill said. "I think these lifestyles and higher levels of education contribute in a major way to good health. Tobacco use is among those behaviors that has slowed the life expectancy. By discouraging the use of tobacco, alcohol and recommending a nutritious diet, the LDS Church is among those religions that provide strong directives for health behaviors, which have resulted in a distinctive lifestyle."

Merrill said other factors associated with LDS lifestyles, like fasting, could be another reason for such high life expectancy rates. A recent study presented to the National Heart Association analyzed the once-a-month fast Mormons undertake and showed those who fasted received a heart-protective benefit and had lower rates of heart disease.

Khaw said to the AP that anyone can improve their health by changing a few things in their lives.

"We didn't ask these people to do anything exceptional," Khaw said. "We measured normal behaviors that were entirely feasible within people's normal, everyday lives."