A bit more housework can help men live a lot longer

If men occasionally put down the remote control and help with the housework then they may live longer, says an Australian study.

The inability of men to use their excess free time doing "meaningful" activities leads to an earlier death, according to researchers at Victoria University.

Comedian Jon Bridges pleads guilty, saying meaningless activities are fun.

"Women might live longer, but if you add up all the time they have spent on housework in their life, it probably more than adds up to those extra years they live.

"Our philosophy as men is we're here for a good time, not a long time ... "

Researchers found that men who spend their time on passive leisure activities are more likely to be bored, lonely and contributing to unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. Auckland University Sociologist Vivienne Elizabeth said it could be the noticeable absence of male social relationships that made this study important.

"What we do know is generally as men get older they have fewer in-depth relationships," she said.

"And if men don't see housework as a meaningful activity, how can they get anything out of it?"

Researchers asked 168 Melbourne men to record their activities in a diary over two days, describing how meaningful the activity was and how they felt.

They were also asked to complete a health survey measuring their alcohol and tobacco use and mental and physical health.

Dr Elizabeth said it would have been interesting to have compared the men's activities with what women did in those same two days, or even better, over a period of a week.