People are living longer than ever, as life expectancy reaches a global average of 73.5 years.
ADVEReadNOWISEMENT
ADVEReadNOWISEMENT
However, living longer doesn’t necessarily mean living healthier. Researchers are now trying to uncover the secret — not only to a longer life, but to one lived in a healthy way and with a good quality of life.
To do so, researchers at Cagliari University in Italy looked at the elders of the Sardinia blue zone, a region in the Mediterranean island where people tend to live longer than in other parts of the country and longer than in the rest of Europe, too.
Blue zones are geographically isolated areas ─ such as central-eastern Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Ikaria (Greece) and Nicoya (Costa Rica) ─ characterised by the exceptional longevity and elevated levels of well-being among their inhabitants.
To be designated a “blue zone,” a place must have clearly defined boundaries, with an exceptionally high concentration of people living to at least 90 years old over the past 150 years, and records that can validate birth and death dates.
Previous research has shown that people in these areas tend to enjoy longer lives due to a combination of genetic, environmental, dietary, socio-cultural and psychological factors.
What is the secret of the Sardinian “super-agers”?
The new study, published in the International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, compared older adults living in the Sardinian blue zone with those in a nearby rural area. Participants answered questions about their lifestyle, demographics, perceived quality of life and completed a cognitive test.
In the Sardinian blue zone, older adults benefit from regular, socially and cognitively stimulating activities; they retain a meaningful social role and a sense of purpose, which the authors describe as “key elements for successful aging.”
The researchers found that those living in the blue zone showed higher levels of curiosity and receptivity to new ideas, as well as a stronger ability to understand and share their own emotions.
Ultimately, the data suggest that adaptive personality profiles and active lifestyles are essential for maintaining mental and physical health in late adulthood, the authors noted.
Residents in the blue zone lead a simple but highly active lifestyle. They spent significantly more time on cognitively and physically stimulating leisure activities — an average of 11.3 hours per week, compared with 6.8 hours for those in non-blue zone areas.
The researchers also observed that instead of trying to do everything, these older adults selectively focus on activities they can still perform successfully and find “gratifying,” such as gardening, walking or attending social gatherings at community centres.
Older residents in the blue zone often maintained strong social ties within their communities and reported greater satisfaction both with family and non-family relationships. They also had more effective coping strategies for daily problems and greater emotional competence.
Social engagement and effective stress management are critical components for ageing well within these unique communities, the authors concluded.
Where is the Sardinian blue zone?
The Sardinian blue zone is located across six villages in the east-central part of the island, a region called Ogliastra, according to recent research.
Here, the percentage of centenarians among people born between 1880 and 1900 was approximately five times higher than in the rest of Europe, and three times higher than in Sardinia as a whole. That proportion has only increased since the term was coined almost 20 years ago.
While globally more women than men reach the age of 100, in this part of Sardinia, the proportion is roughly equal.
In the island’s blue zone, the researchers verified the ages of every person over 90 by cross-checking civil and ecclesiastical archives, as well as reconstructing family genealogies to rule out errors or identity switches.