Study: Strong Muscles Associated with Significantly Longer Lives for Women
Which 4 Wellness Markets Are Driving the Most Industry Growth?
As Democracy Recedes Globally, What’s the Impact on Wellbeing?
Wellness Real Estate Case Study: The Picket Fence Concept Home
Must-Reads from the Wellness World: From the World Happiness Report linking social media to declining youth wellbeing in Western countries to a UK nature prescription program outperforming talk therapy for mental illness

Wellness Evidence

GWI’s website (www.wellnessevidence.com) is the only resource dedicated to the medical evidence for wellness approaches.

Study: Strong Muscles Linked to Significantly Longer Lives for Women

A large new study in JAMA Network (on 5,472 women aged 63 to 99 years) found that muscle strength was associated with significantly lower mortality risk in women—even for those not meeting guideline-recommended activity levels. The researchers noted that the findings were a surprise, as strength in older women turned out to be a key—and unique—factor in longevity, reducing the risk for early death by a third or more.

ACCESS THIS STUDY on exercise

Which 4 Wellness Markets Are Driving the Most Industry Growth?

GWI’s recent Country Rankings report is packed with data on the wellness markets of 145 countries and examines which markets have been growing the fastest. One interesting finding: four wellness sectors have been responsible for most of the wellness economy growth from 2019 to 2024, across all the fastest-growing country markets.

READ MORE to see which sectors are fueling growth for wellness

As Democracy Recedes Globally, What’s the Impact on Wellbeing?

By Thierry Malleret, economist

Worldwide, democracy is receding to its lowest levels since the mid-70s. A record 41% (3.4 billion) of the world’s population currently live in countries where democracy is deteriorating. Does this impact people’s wellness? Yes, because the type of government we live under correlates significantly with our personalities which in turn predicts our wellbeing. A recent study in Nature found that “citizens in democratic countries have more benevolent traits, fewer malevolent traits, and greater wellbeing”––they’re measurably kinder and more trusting. The most interesting finding? The kinder you are, the happier you become. Living in autocracy doesn’t make someone malevolent, and living in a democracy doesn’t make one benevolent. But the research offers a key insight: benevolent traits are the strongest predictor of individual wellbeing, outpacing even democracy scores. Being kind boosts our wellbeing even more than living in a democratic country, even though the two are usually strongly linked.

READ MORE

Wellness Real Estate Case Study: The Picket Fence Concept Home

GWI’s Build Well to Live Well: Case Studies, Volume 1 presents 13 case studies showcasing a wide range of wellness real estate projects across the US and the UK. The key takeaway: wellness can be implemented at any scale, for diverse types of occupants, and across a broad range of price points. We’re spotlighting one case study each month to inspire future projects of all kinds, for all people.

The Picket Fence Concept Home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, demonstrates how developers and builders can use design and construction innovations to increase the supply of healthy, sustainable, and attainable urban infill housing.

The Picket Fence is a “concept home” built on a narrow urban infill lot in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using consumer insights from the America at Home Study. The project was created to inspire new ways for builders and architects to collaborate on healthy and sustainable homes through design innovation and system-built construction solutions, while maintaining a focus on affordability. The three-story structure includes a 2,007-square-foot, two-story unit above a 660-square-foot studio accessory dwelling unit (ADU). It was specifically designed to appeal to millennials seeking an active, sustainable urban lifestyle.

The Picket Fence Concept Home features several innovative approaches to wellness and sustainability that make urban construction more practical:

Identifying top wellness needs through rigorous consumer research.
Addressing housing scarcity and affordability through urban infill.
Delivering wellness through intentional and flexible design.
Piloting new design and construction approaches to increase housing supply.

Must-Reads from The Wellness World

World Happiness Report 2026 shows a complex global picture of social media and happiness
–University of Oxford

The health of nations: Stronger health, stronger economies
–McKinsey Health Institute

‘Massive boost of serotonin!’: How a dose of nature is treating mental illness
–The Guardian

How a healthy mindset influences longevity
–The New York Times

A Striking Stat: Anglophone Unhappiness

No English-speaking countries appear in the top ten happiest countries in the world—New Zealand (11th), Ireland (13th), Australia (15th), US (23rd), Canada (25th) and the UK (29th)—with only half of them appearing in the top 20.

Source: ‘2026 World Happiness Report’ from Gallup