Do you belong to any of these groups that have a longer-than-usual lifespan?
Asian-American Women in Bergen County, New Jersey With a life expectancy of 91, these suburban New York City women rule the U.S. In general, Asian-American women live the longest of any ethnic group. Preliminary research suggests a reason: Even after exposure to Western lifestyles, they continue to eat lower-fat diets than typical Americans.
Firstborns Compared to their younger siblings, older kids are twice as likely to reach age 100, say Uni
versity of Chicago researchers. This may be because they were conceived by younger (read: health-ier) women who were using their freshest eggs.
People with a lot of moles While skin cancer remains a worry, researchers from King’s College in London say that people with more than 100 moles have longer (more protective) telomeres, chromosome-protecting buffers that delay aging and may extend longevity by up to seven years.
Winter babies Although they’re not sure why, Chicago researchers discovered that 80-year-olds born in January will live two percent longer than their peers—especially those born from April to June.
Women with wide hips . . . but not a lot of junk in the trunk. Women at a healthy weight who have hips wider than 41 inches outlive other women with the same BMI, possibly because of genetic, hormonal or physical characteristics that guard against heart disease, say Swedish researchers.
Good sleepers Women who doze seven to eight hours a night may outlast others, suggests a 22-year study from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. Sleeping over eight hours in-creases mortality risk by 17 percent; getting less than seven hours raises the risk to 21 percent.
Believers Going to church or temple or praying privately makes healthy adults likely to live considerably longer than people who don’t worship, reports Health Psychology; stress-reducing social support and a group aversion to risky behavior may explain why.