By Linda Lane
lanefamily1992@gmail.com
There is no fountain of youth, but there are steps everyone can take for a healthy lifestyle which can promote the potential for a longer life.
Illinois Extension Educator Mary Liz Wright recently presented a workshop at the Paris Public Library on Cultivating Personal Blue Zones.
Those who study health and longevity have long been aware there are places around the world with a higher percentage of people living well into their 90s and past the century mark. Labeled as Blue Zones, these geographic areas also experience lower rates of age-related chronic diseases.
The current Blue Zones are Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Icarla, Greece; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California, and they represent a variety of environmental climates.
Wright stressed it is not about where people live, but how they live. She said it is possible to emulate such lifestyles and potentially add years of life.
By contrast to Blue Zone areas, a 1980-2014 study of Edgar County mortality by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington determined the life expectancy of a female Edgar County resident is 79.8 years, and males have a life expectancy of 74.9 years. Edgar County residents have a lower life expectancy than the state average of 81.3 for females and 76.7 for males, and the national average of 81.5 for females and 76.7 for males.
Blue Zone residents follow healthier lifestyles. They tend to eat lots of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, plant proteins, fish and seafood, lean meats, herbs and spices and healthy fats, such as mono and polyunsaturated fats, and those that are rich in Omega-3. Emphasis is placed on whole foods rather than processed foods and snacks.
Edgar County, according to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, ranks near the bottom 25 percent of Illinois’ 102 counties as a healthy place. The 2022 ranking was 73 out of 102. The county is below average in health outcomes with 20% of the adult population continuing to smoke, 36% of the adult population is considered obese (the World Health Organization defines obesity as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or more) and 24% of the adult population engages in excessive alcohol use.
According to Wright, many factors influence lifestyle which is a culmination of a person’s beliefs, values, daily behaviors and habits. Longevity is the duration or length of human life and many factors influence it.
Many believe life expectancy is determined by genetics, but Wright said genetics only account for between 20-30% of a person’s potential lifespan. She added behaviors, attitudes and environment also influence longevity.
Wright encouraged those in the audience to adopt positive health behaviors and live a healthy lifestyle, to not only add more years to their lives, but to also have more life-quality as they age.
