People are much more successful at taking up healthy habits if their partners get involved too, a new study has found.

UK researchers looked at more than 3,700 couples over the age of 50, who were either married or living together. They specifically looked at how likely people were to lose weight, start being active or quit smoking in relation to what their loved ones did.

The study found that people had more success attempting to get healthy if their partners made changes as well. For example, among female smokers, 50% succeeded in quitting if their partners also quit at the same time, compared to 17% of women whose partners were already non-smokers and 8% whose partners continued to smoke.

Women were also more likely to get more active and lose weight if their partners got involved too.

Furthermore, the same effects were seen in men attempting to get healthy. They were more likely to give up cigarettes, lose weight and become more physically active if their partners did the same.

"Making lifestyle changes can make a big difference to our health and cancer risk. And this study shows that when couples make those changes together they are more likely to succeed," commented Dr Julie Sharp of Cancer Research UK, which helped to fund the research.

She said that getting support ‘can help people take up good habits'.

"For example, if you want to lose weight and have a friend or colleague who's trying to do the same thing, you could encourage each other by joining up for a run or a swim at lunchtime or after work," she noted.

The researchers from University College London emphasised that unhealthy lifestyles ‘are a leading cause of death from chronic disease worldwide'.

"The key lifestyle risks are smoking, excess weight, physical inactivity, poor diet, and alcohol consumption. Swapping bad habits for good ones can reduce the risk of disease, including cancer," they added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, JAMA Internal Medicine.