It sounds like a cliché that we tell ourselves to pretend that we are not actually that old.
However, scientists have discovered that 70 really is the new 60. Today’s 70-somethings are up to ten years ‘younger’, both physically and mentally, than previous generations.
Experts suspect that general improvements in health and education, combined with greater awareness of nutrition and exercise, may be important factors in helping to slow the effects of aging.
Researchers analyzed years of data collected from 14,710 over-60s in England. The data covered both physical health – such as walking speed, sleep, breathing capacity, grip strength, hearing, vision and balance – and mental health, including memory, recall and psychological health.
“Our results suggest that today’s 70-year-olds are performing similar functions to significantly younger adults in previous generations,” the team said. “Perhaps 70 really is the new 60.”
Stock photo: Scientists have discovered that 70 really is the new 60, with today’s septuagenarians being up to ten years ‘younger’
Stock photo: Researchers analyzed years of data collected on 14,710 people over the age of 60
The study, published in the journal Research Square, found that the changes happened quickly: someone born in 1950 was as fit at age 68 as someone born in 1940 was at age 62. And they found that “the cognitive improvement was even more substantial.”
They concluded that people being younger ‘has positive consequences for all of us, both as individuals and for society as a whole’.
Better health care may play a role in the improvements, including greater awareness of conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
A healthier lifestyle, such as smoking less and eating better, may also have contributed. So too may the decline in infectious diseases, which has resulted from improved sanitation and other environmental improvements over the years.
“The explanations for the improvements we observed are likely complex and involve changes that have occurred over most of the past century,” the researchers said.
Stock image: Better health care could play a role in the improvements, including greater awareness of conditions such as high blood pressure
The team, led by John Beard of Columbia University in New York, found that “the trajectories for men and women were similar” and that similar improvements were seen in a similarly large sample of people in China.
Their findings follow other research showing that people think old age starts later in life than it used to.
A team from Humboldt University in Berlin examined data from 14,000 people. They were asked the question, “At what age would you describe someone as old?” When participants born in 1911 were 65, they said it was 71. But when participants born in 1956 were 65, they said they would be 74.
According to Markus Wettstein, author of the study, this could be related to higher life expectancy and better health. ‘People of a certain age who used to be considered old may no longer be considered old.’