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Reading is more than entertainment. If you want to live longer--as much as two years longer, on average--set aside 30 minutes a day to read.

That's the word from researchers at Yale University School of Public Health, who have determined that avid readers live longer.

The study: Led by Becca R. Levy, a professor of epidemiology, the team analyzed data collected on 3,635 men and women who were part of the Health and Retirement Study. In addition to other factors, the participants, all of whom were age 50 or older, self-reported their reading habits. Each person was followed for about 12 years.

The results:

• Compared with those who never read books, those who read books for up to 3.5 hours a week were 17 percent less likely to die over the 12-year follow-up period.

• Those who read books for more than 3.5 hours a week were 23 percent less likely to die when compared with those who never read books.

• Overall, adults who read books lived almost two years longer over the 12-year follow-up period than non-book readers.

• Those who primarily read newspapers and magazines instead of books also experienced some increased longevity, but the effect was less marked than with book reading.

Even when the researchers accounted for the participants' gender, age, wealth, education, health and marital status, the protective effect of book reading held.

Why does reading help us to live longer? The researchers did not identify the mechanism that helps increase survival, but Levy speculates that it could be the cognitive benefits reading provides in boosting brain cell connectivity.

As the researchers conclude to the happiness of every bookworm: "These findings suggest that the benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them."

The study findings were published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

--From the Editors at Netscape