Living environment and lifestyle factors may accelerate biological aging in early adulthood
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Researchers from the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, found that biological aging may accelerate as early as young adulthood. In addition to lifestyle factors, environmental exposures and living environments may contribute to faster biological aging.
In the study, lifestyle and environmental exposures during childhood and adolescence explained approximately 28% of the variation in biological age at age 22.
Genetics, lifestyles and environmental factors shape how fast our bodies age. Biological aging begins before birth, and it can progress faster or slower than chronological aging. Faster biological aging increases the risk of developing age-related diseases earlier in life.
In a longitudinal twin study conducted at the University of Jyväskylä, researchers examined the exposome, the totality of lifestyle and environmental exposures, and its effect on biological age in young adulthood using machine learning models.
In the study, the exposome was assessed using 186 lifestyle and environmental exposures, including lifestyle factors, surrounding greenness, air pollution and sociodemographic factors in participants' living areas.
The researchers found that the measured childhood and adolescent exposures explained approximately 28% of the variation in epigenetic age at age 22.
The paper is published in the journal Environment International.
Biological age is not determined solely by individual choices
Smoking, alcohol use and youth unemployment were associated with accelerated biological aging. In contrast, higher tree cover, vegetation index and neighborhood age structure predicted slower aging.
The findings highlight the significant impact that living environments and social circumstances have on biological age even in youth.
"Our results show that biological age is not determined solely by individual choices," says doctoral researcher Annika Opperbeck. "Many of the environmental exposures we identified are structural and systemic, meaning that individuals cannot change them on their own, but society can."
"This gives us the opportunity for early interventions to alter long-term health trajectories and reduce health inequalities before they become established," Opperbeck continues.
Unexpectedly, larger green spaces were associated with accelerated biological aging, and airborne black carbon predicted slower aging. According to the researchers, these unexpected findings are likely indicators of underlying rural–urban differences affecting aging, such as socioeconomic and lifestyle differences.
Further development of machine learning methods will make it possible to examine the complex interactions between environmental and lifestyle exposures in greater detail in the future.
Publication details
Annika Opperbeck et al, Exploring the exposome and unexplained variance in epigenetic ageing – Insights from a longitudinal twin study in adolescence and early adulthood, Environment International (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2026.110430
Journal information: Environment International
Key medical concepts
AGING BIOLExposomeAlcohol DrinkingSmoking
Clinical categories
Healthy agingPreventive medicineHealthy living Provided by University of Jyväskylä Who's behind this story?
Swati Mestri
Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space. Full profile →
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