Living Long Beats Living Large
Comments: 4
Eat fish, tofu, rice and vegetables (and don’t forget the seaweed). Go easy on the starchy carbs, red meat and dairy food.
Life expectancy for Japanese reaches new record
NJ.comTOKYO (AP) — Life expectancies in Japan, already the world’s longest for both sexes, reached new records in 2001 for the second straight year, a government report said Wednesday.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said women could expect to live 84.93 years and men 78.07 years in 2001. That was longer than in 2000, when the life expectancy for Japanese women was 84.62 years and men 77.64 years.
One bizarre note in the story about a social phenomenon that skewed the figures somewhat:
Japanese have had the longest life expectancy for years, though suicides linked to the country’s economic stagnation caused the figures to decline in the late 1990s.
One thing the story neglects to mention is how healthy and active most Japanese seniors are. They’re generally not sitting around in nursing homes waiting for the Reaper. I swim with a team that includes people in their 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s and these people are good. They invariably look at least 20 years younger than they are.
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Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2002.08.01 (Thu) • 10:24
Comments
Posted by Kurt 2002.07.13, 23:08
It doesn’t help one bit that mugicha, at least imho, tastes awful! We actually have two tea beverages in the fridge, mugicha for my wife and in-laws, and good ol’ kocha (black tea) for me. An (azuki bean) popsicles also provide an all-too-brief respite.
Posted by Jeff 2002.07.14, 05:32
I, too, am a summer sort of guy. And just like you I grew up in a hot, but dry climate (Southern California). And, just like you, I now reside in humidsville.
Tokyo<—>Washington, DC: twins separated at birth.
I think domestic and foreign policy here is affected by our weather.
Posted by Kurt 2002.08.02, 14:46
Jeremy, I was struck by the same incongruous paragraph about the suicides affecting the life expectancy rate. I blogged about it here: http://www.easterwood.org/hmmn/archives/japan/000096.html#000096
Your point about how fit seniors are is important. My in-laws, in their late 50’s, are incredibly active, be it with hiking, ping pong, folk dancing, etc. I’m always amazed at the hordes of seniors crowding the trains on the weekend with large backpacks, walking sticks, and the requisite floppy hats.
Posted by jh 2002.08.06, 15:55
It’s a truly weird note to have to inject into an otherwise upbeat story, isn’t it.
As for active seniors, the “use it or lose it” philosophy definitely holds true. I recently went to the national Masters swim meet in Tatsumi and you’d be amazed at the number of people in the over-90 age group not just participating but turning in respectable times. I checked some Masters pages for clubs in Australia and couldn’t see anyone over 90 swimming at all.
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