A Study on the Intersection and Impacts Among Lifestyle, Cognitive Health, and Retirement

Against the backdrop of rapid population aging, investigating the intersection and impacts among lifestyle, cognitive health, and retirement holds significant academic value and great practical significance for advancing the achievement of the sustainable development goal (SDG) of “Good Health and Well-being”. This study employs data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) and adopts a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design (FRDD) to examine the impact of lifestyle on cognitive health, identify lifestyle changes induced by retirement, and explore the underlying mechanisms and heterogeneous effects across population subgroups. The empirical results indicate that social engagement and physical exercise exert positive effects on cognitive health, while smoking and drinking significantly impair cognitive health. Retirement leads to reduced social participation and physical activity, as well as increased smoking and drinking, which in turn significantly lower cognitive health through the mediating role of lifestyle. Furthermore, the negative impact of retirement on cognitive health is heterogeneous: it is statistically significant among males, individuals with higher educational attainment, and those employed outside the government departments, but insignificant among females, individuals with lower educational attainment, and those working in the government sector. This study clarifies the functional logic linking retirement, lifestyle, and cognitive health, providing theoretical references and practical implications for formulating policies to safeguard cognitive health among middle-aged and older adults.