How healthy are you?
It’s a deceptively straightforward question. But how do you answer?
You might reference your height, your weight, or your body mass index (which uses those two figures, Goldilocks-style, to determine whether you’re underweight, obese, or just right). You might think on how fast you can run a mile (assuming you can), or how many push-ups you can do, or some other test of strength you half-remember from middle school gym class. (Just stop before you attempt any rope climbing.) You might think on your diet, and whether it includes more leafy greens or “food” that comes from a bag, with a brand name that rhymes with Schmeeto-Flay.
But if we were to ask you, on a scale of 0 to 100, how would you answer?
Well, our friends at LifeScore Labs and MassMutual have spent years perfecting the methodology behind answering that question and they created a tool, called my MyLifeScore360, that evaluates people’s health on a scale from 0 to 100.
This is no social media health quiz. LifeScore Labs studied 908,414 applicants from 1999 through 2014, totaling more than 9,159,469 “person-years.” The end result uses 48 data points to determine your LifeScore360 score.
What will they want to know? We’re so glad you asked.
A little about you
Some health screening tools are hard. This one (at least this part) is easy. How tall are you? What do you weigh? When were you born? What is your gender? The basics.
These questions help LifeScore Labs establish your peer group, a compare-and-contrast exercise that helps them establish that final score. If you’re older, it’s not fair to compare your body-mass index to that of a 22-year-old, especially when you’re obviously much wiser and funnier and more distinguished, factors that don’t show up in BMI, but really they should.
Your family health history
In particular, the tool will ask about your family’s history with cancer and cardiovascular disease, two of the leading indicators as to whether you will have cancer or cardiovascular disease.
If you don’t know the answers, it’s worth finding them out—not just for this tool, but so your doctors will be able to provide you with the right type of preventative care. After all, LifeScore Labs’ study has shown that these two factors have a high correlation with an increased mortality rate.
A little about your health
What is your total cholesterol reading? What is your blood pressure? Again, these are questions you might not have answers at the ready. (Though helpfully, MyLifeScore360 only asks you to list whether your cholesterol is normal, borderline or high, and whether your blood pressure is low, normal or high. The tool also allows users to enter their actual measurements if they have them.)
You’ll also need to explain whether you have a heart condition, or if you smoke. From there, well, all you have to do is sit back and watch the little meter go from left to right as the site calculates your overall health score. (Feel free to brag about it on Twitter, by the way.)
To find out your MyLifeScore 360, simply head here. No push-ups required, we promise.
Louis Wilson is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in a wide array of publications, both online and in print. He often writes about travel, sports, popular culture, men’s fashion and grooming, and more. He lives in Austin, Texas, where he has developed an unbridled passion for breakfast tacos, with his wife and two children. This article is sponsored by Haven Life Insurance Agency. Opinions are his own.
Haven Life Insurance Agency offers this as educational only, and the information provided is not written or intended as specific legal advice. Haven Life Insurance Agency does not provide legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to seek advice from their own legal counsel.
