Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, North-Holland, The Netherlands.
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, North-Holland, The Netherlands.
Gerontologist. 2024 Nov 1;64(11). doi: 10.1093/geront/gnae132.
"Blue Zones" (BZs) are regions with exceptionally high numbers of longevous inhabitants. Several factors have been suggested to promote longevity in BZs, but the evidence generally does not meet scientific quality criteria. We aimed to characterize a municipality as a "relative BZ," satisfying 3 criteria: compared to other municipalities, more exceptionally longevous inhabitants, a higher life expectancy, and a more stable population.
The population-based Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam has been ongoing since 1992 in 11 municipalities across the Netherlands with 3- or 4-yearly measurement waves. Using all available waves, we included 39 genetic, personal, sociocultural, and environmental characteristics.
One municipality satisfied the 3 BZ criteria. In comparison with participants in other municipalities in the same province and other provinces in the Netherlands, BZ-participants more often had a polygenic risk score linked to longevity, smoked less, consumed less alcohol and more fruit, biked more minutes, did more often paid work, practiced singing more often, attached higher importance to religion, and lived in a more walkable and livable environment. In contrast, BZ-participants had a slower walking speed, more depressive symptoms, felt less purpose in life, had a larger waist circumference, walked and did sports less often, consumed less vegetables, and exchanged less instrumental support. Other indicators of their physical and mental health and social connectedness did not substantially differ from non-BZ-participants.
Rather than clues to healthy aging, our findings suggest factors conducive to longevity regardless of impaired health.
“蓝区”（BZs）是长寿人口比例极高的地区。有几个因素被认为可以促进 BZs 中的长寿，但这些证据通常不符合科学质量标准。我们旨在将一个市定义为“相对 BZ”，满足以下 3 个标准：与其他市相比，拥有更多异常长寿的居民，更高的预期寿命和更稳定的人口。
基于人群的阿姆斯特丹纵向老龄化研究自 1992 年以来一直在荷兰的 11 个市进行，每 3 或 4 年进行一次测量。我们使用了所有可用的波次，包括 39 种遗传、个人、社会文化和环境特征。
一个市符合 3 个 BZ 标准。与同省和荷兰其他省份其他市的参与者相比，BZ 参与者的长寿多基因风险评分更高，吸烟更少，饮酒和水果摄入更少，骑自行车时间更长，从事有偿工作的频率更高，唱歌更频繁，宗教重要性更高，居住环境更适宜步行和居住。相比之下，BZ 参与者的步行速度更慢，抑郁症状更多，生活目标感更低，腰围更大，步行和运动频率更低，蔬菜摄入量更少，很少进行社会支持交流。他们身心健康和社会联系的其他指标与非 BZ 参与者没有实质性差异。
我们的发现表明，这些因素有利于长寿，而不是健康老龄化的线索。
