'Govts Are Often Influenced By Private Interests, And Don't Focus On Health'

Longevity is not about going to the gym or having superfoods, but living in an environment that promotes a healthy lifestyle. Dan Buettner, the Blue Zones founder, National Geographic fellow, best-selling author and the producer of the Emmy Award-winning 'Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zone' series, learnt this during his decades-long research into five blue zones of the world. In an interview with Nidhi Sinha, Editor, Outlook Money, as part of the Wealth Wizards series, he talks about another kind of wealth, a healthy and fulfilling long life. He also talks about blue zones, and how policy matters when it comes to improving the health, lifestyle and longevity of the population

- Nidhi Sinha

Could you explain the concept of blue zones (where longevity is higher) to the uninitiated?

Only about 20 per cent of how long we live is dictated by our genes; 80 per cent is something else. So, while working with National Geographic, a team of demographers and I identified five parts of the world (Ikaria in Greece, Loma Linda in California, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Sardinia in Italy and Okinawa in Japan) where people live statistically the longest. Then, we spent three years validating their ages, (through) their birth and death records. We discovered that these places are home to people who live about 10 years longer than the rest of us. Much of my work has been about trying to understand the factors and the characteristics that seem to be accompanying longevity in all five of these places.

What is it that got you interested in blue zones? Is there a personal story behind pursuing these havens of longevity?

I was an explorer, and my speciality was unraveling scientific mysteries. In 2000, I read a World Health Organization (WHO) study that showed that Okinawa was producing the longest disease-free population in the world. And I thought: "Now that's a good mystery."

We started with Okinawa. And I reasoned, if there were long-lived people in Asia, there must be long-lived people in Europe and South America and North America, and maybe even Africa. So there began this 25-year-long journey.

What are the factors that support longevity?