Forget the gym if you want a long life, go to church instead?!

Going to church regularly may well bring benefits in the after-life.

Research suggests the practice can also prove beneficial in this one by helping you live longer.

A study of 8,500 men and women over eight and a half years found that those who went to church more than once a week were 30 per cent less likely to die during the course of the research than non-attenders.

Weekly worship cut the risk by 18 per cent, while even less frequent attendance reduced the risk by 11 per cent, the researchers from the National Centre for Health Statistics in Maryland calculated in the study for the U.S. government.

The link stood even when age, education and existing health problems were taken into account for the volunteers who were aged 40 and over and from a variety of faiths, with Christianity the most common.

Healthy habits associated with church-going folk, such as not smoking and being tee-total, explained some of the difference as did the psychological benefits of being part of a welcoming organisation, said the researchers in the journal Annals of Epidemiology.

Daily Mail, 25/1/08