Retirement years really are golden, says a landmark study from Australia's University of Sydney. The study followed 25,000 older Australians, and studied their lifestyle behaviors including their physical activity, alcohol use, and sleep patterns.

They found that when people retire, they become more active, sleep better, and reduce the time they sit.

"Our research revealed that retirement was associated with positive lifestyle changes," said lead researcher Dr. Melody Ding.

"Compared with people who were still working, retirees had increased levels of physical activity, reduced sitting time, were less likely to smoke, and had healthier sleep patterns," she said.

Retirement, says Ding, gives people more opportunity to follow healthier lifestyles.

"The lifestyle changes were most pronounced in people who retire after working full-time," she said. "When people are working and commuting, it eats a lot of time out of their day.
When they retire, they have time to be physically active and sleep more," she said.

The study found that retirees increased exercise by 93 minutes a week, and decreased their sedentary time by more than an hour. In addition, 50 percent of women smokers stopped smoking.

In 2014, the average American retired at the age of 62, according to a Gallup poll, up from the age of 57 which was reported as the average in 1993.

A HSBC survey found that when asked what they wanted to do in retirement, 59 percent of Americans said spend more time with family and friends, while 49 percent planned to enjoy extensive travel. With work no longer an excuse to avoid exercise, 31 percent said they planned to exercise more.

"A major life change like retirement creates a great window of opportunity to make positive lifestyle changes," said Ding. "It's a chance to get rid of bad routines and engineer new, healthier behaviors," she said.

The study was published in the Journal of Preventive Medicine.