A microlife is a “unit of risk representing a half an hour change in life expectancy”. It’s a “simple way of communicating the impact of lifestyle or environmental risk factors”.
For example, smoking 15-20 cigarettes is -10 microlives; equating to 1 hour for every 3-4 cigarettes.
Eating your 5 fruits and vegetables in a day is equal to +4 microlives, or +2 hours.
The first 20 minutes of exercise (+2 microlives), 2-3 cups of coffee is a day (+1 microlife). However, one 85g portion of red meat (-1 microlife), and two hours of sedentary TV watching (-1 microlife).
Of course, all of these are calculated based on population averages, but they’re a fascinating insight into the impacts of micro decisions and habits that compound over time.