Keeping with this edition of BOOM’s theme of “superagers”, how about living to be 100 years old? To begin, I would be remiss if I did not mention that one of the largest and earliest studies of centenarians—those who live into their 100’s– is the Georgia Centenarian Study conducted right here at UGA’s Institute of Gerontology by renowned gerontology professor Dr. Lenard W. Poon (see the link below).
Today about one in every 5,000 people in the United States is a centenarian; about 85 percent of them are women. While the odds aren’t great that we’ll all make it that far, the Census Bureau predicts that in about 40 years, the number of people who live to 100 could be six times as high. An American man who retires in good health stands an 8% chance of reaching 100. For a healthy female retiree, the chance of reaching 100 rises to 13%. For a healthy couple, there’s a 20% chance one partner will make a century. Life expectancy rises with age. At birth, an American can expect to live 70 to 80 years. By the time you reach 70, however, your expected longevity rises to at least 85. Most Americans underestimate the length of their retirement − in other words, how long they will live. In a 2023 survey, thousands of older adults were asked how long a man of 65 could expect to live. Most respondents underestimated and only 27% gave the correct answer: another 20 years. The longer you live the longer you live.
Of course, one question that may pop to mind is, “Who wants to live to be 100 years old anyway?” Well, as you might guess, not everyone as it turns out. It’s a club that only 1 in 4 Americans want to join. Just 29% of adults say they want to live to 100. However, that depends on what sort of life people expect to have at such an age. Many people also say something like, “If I can live to 100 in good health, that’s amazing, but if I’m going to live to 100 and be in poor health, I’m not sure I’m up for that.” Yet, there’s also the fact that while there are many things we can do to influence our longevity, we usually don’t get to decide how long we live. So, you may in fact live to reach very old age.
If you would like to make it to 100, here’s what the research on centenarians tells us. Although sheer luck no doubt plays a role, “there is also a striking family history that supports a genetic component,” says Nir Barzilai, a geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. In fact, he adds, the odds of centenarians having a relative who lived into old age is 20 times that of the average person. So, your genes are no doubt important, perhaps accounting for 20-30% of longevity, but more important of course is lifestyle. Enter “Blue Zones.”
Blue Zones are places where people not only live very long lives on average, well into their 90’s and 100’s, but also have lower levels of chronic disabling disease, i.e., they are relatively healthy at these ages. Okinawa in Japan is perhaps the most well-known Blue Zone, where women have the longest life expectancies in the World. Other Blue Zones are found in specific locales of Greece, Italy, Costa Rica. In the U.S., there is a Blue Zone in the Seventh Day Adventist Community in Loma Linda, California. So, what do these populations have in common, what is their secret? Although their lifestyles differ slightly, they mostly eat a plant-based diet, exercise regularly, drink moderate amounts of alcohol, get enough sleep, and have good spiritual, family, and social networks. Surprise! Each of these lifestyle factors has been shown to be associated with a longer life. If you want to know more about Blue Zones or Centenarians, see the links below.
Healthy aging among centenarians and near-centenarians: Findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378512224000963
Why People in “Blue Zones” Live Longer Than the Rest of the World. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/blue-zones
Living to 100 is getting more common. How that could affect your retirement. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/lifestyle/2025/06/08/live-to-100-retirement-planning/84075632007/
Is 100 the new 80: Centenarians Studied to Find the Secret of Longevity. Scientific American, Oct. 28, 2008. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/centarians-studied-to-find-the-secret-of-longevity/
Secrets of Healthy Aging and Longevity from Exceptional Survivors Around the Globe: Lessons From Octogenarians to Supercentenarian. http://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4986604/
