Longevity and Walking

Older adults who are able to boost their walking speed over time live longer lives. Testing older patients' walking speed could be one simple way to predict long-term health and survival. A study of 439 adults age 65 and older, found that those who improved their walking speed over one year were less likely to die over the next eight years. More information on longevity research.

Diet and longevity
Eating a Mediterranean diet as opposed to a typical American diet, increases longevity.

Longevity and being fit
Fitness appears to be a more important determinant of longevity than belly size or overall fat. In a group of men and women who 60 years of age or older, those who were very obese but fit were no more likely to die over the study's 12-year follow-up period than normal weight or thin people were. But being at normal weight didn't reduce a person's mortality risk unless he or she was fit. Journal of the American Medical Association, December 5, 2007.

Daily exercise and longevity
People 50 to 71 years old who got at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five days a week -- as recommended in U.S. national guidelines -- were 27 percent less likely to die over the next six or seven years. Archives of Internal Medicine, Dec. 10/24, 2007.

Education and longevity
From 1990 to 2000, life expectancy for people with at least some college education rose 1.6 years while remaining static for less-educated people. In 2000, those in the less-educated group could be expected at age 25 to live to about age 75 while those in the more-educated group could be expected to reach 82.

Work and longevity
There may be a connection between retirement and mortality in apparently healthy people. In a study of nearly 17,000 Greek adults, researchers found that those who were retired at enrollment were 51 percent more likely to die during the study period than their same-age counterparts who were still working. Among retirees, those who left the workforce at a younger age were at greater risk of dying during the study. American Journal of Epidemiology, March 2008.

Menstrual cycle onset and longevity
Women who have their first menstrual period at a younger-than-average age live shorter lives than their peers. In a long-term study of more than 61,000 Norwegian women,  girls who began menstruating at a relatively young age - 12 or younger -- had a slightly higher risk of dying during the study period. Among women who had their first period at the age of 10 or 11, the risk of death was roughly 10 percent higher than that of women who began menstruating at age 14 -- the average for the study group.

longevity research