It sounds like the kind of cliché we might tell ourselves to pretend we’re not really that old.
But scientists have discovered that 70 is actually the new 60, and that today’s septuagenarians are up to a decade “younger” physically and mentally than previous generations.
Experts suspect that general improvements in health and education, along with greater awareness about diet and exercise, which can help slow the effects of aging, could be key factors.
Researchers analysed years of data collected on 14,710 people aged 60 and over in England, covering both physical health (such as walking speed, sleep, breathing capacity, grip strength, hearing, vision and balance) and mental ability, including memory, recall and psychological health.
“Our results suggest that today’s 70-year-olds have functioning equivalent to that of substantially younger adults from previous generations,” the team says. “Perhaps 70 really is the new 60.”
File image: Scientists have discovered that 70 is actually the new 60, with today’s septuagenarians up to a decade “younger”
File image: Researchers analyzed years of data that had been collected on 14,710 people over the age of 60.
The study, published in the journal Research Square, found that the changes were happening rapidly: a person born in 1950 was just as fit at age 68 as a person born in 1940 was at age 62. And they found that “the improvement in cognition was even more substantial.”
They concluded that people being younger “has positive implications for all of us, both as individuals and for society as a whole.”
Better health care may be playing a role in the improvements, including increased awareness of diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Healthier living conditions, such as reduced smoking and better nutrition, may also have contributed, as well as fewer infectious diseases associated with better sanitation and other environmental improvements over the years.
“Explanations for the improvements we observed are likely to be complex and related to changes that have occurred over most of the past century,” the researchers say.
File image: Better health care may be playing a role in the improvements, including increased awareness of conditions such as high blood pressure.
The team, led by John Beard at Columbia University in New York, said “trajectories were similar for men and women” and observed similar improvements in an equally large sample of people in China.
Their findings come after other research found that people think old age begins later in life than they used to think.
A team from Humboldt University in Berlin analysed data from 14,000 people who were asked: “At what age would you describe someone as old?” When participants born in 1911 were 65, they said 71, but when those born in 1956 were 65, they put the onset of old age at 74.
Study author Markus Wettstein said this could be due to longer life expectancy and better health, “so that people of a certain age who were considered old in the past may no longer be considered old now.”