Long Life: Feeling Young Is Half The Battle

People who feel younger than their age may actually be right–they may be younger than their age–healthwise, at least. Researchers at University College in London are convinced that feeling “young at heart” is a good indicator how long we will live. How do they know? Because when they followed more than 6,000 people (average age 66) for eight years after asking them whether they felt younger or older than their age, they found that people who felt older than their age had a 41 percent greater risk of death than those who felt younger. The researchers found that 25 percent of people who felt older than their actual age died, compared with about 14 percent of people who felt younger than their true age and almost 19 percent who felt their age. HealthDay reports that more than two-thirds of participants felt three or more years younger than their actual age, while about a quarter felt their age. About 5 percent felt more than a year older than their true age.