Åkerman Sarah, Deeg Dorly, Boman Erika, Niklasson Johan, Gustafson Yngve, Nyqvist Fredrica
Social Policy, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland.
Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
J Aging Res. 2025 Aug 3;2025:5535904. doi: 10.1155/jare/5535904. eCollection 2025.
To delay social and healthcare utilisation among the ageing population, there is an increasing focus on the role of health-promoting lifestyle adopted at an individual and/or community level. Longevity is generally viewed as the ultimate outcome of health, although a high life expectancy does not necessarily go together with health and/or a health-promoting lifestyle. The potential coherence between longevity, health and lifestyle may vary in different cultural, political, social and economic contexts. This Nordic regional study situated in regions differing in longevity aims to (i) explore differences in adherence to the comprehensive, health-promoting Blue Zone lifestyle principles in four regions in Western Finland (bilingual Ostrobothnia, Swedish-speaking Åland and Finnish-speaking South Ostrobothnia) and (ii) investigate regional differences in health. Thus, the present study aims to examine if adherence to Blue Zone lifestyle principles and good health is highest in the most longevous region. Survey data from the Gerontological Regional Database in 2021-2022 were used. Marginal means were calculated using ANOVA. The results showed that Åland, Finland's most longevous region, showed the best health and higher environmental agreeableness, while deviated from several Blue Zone lifestyle principles. Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia showed good health and adherence to the Blue Zone lifestyle. South Ostrobothnia showed the poorest health but as much adherence to the Blue Zone lifestyle as Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. Finnish-speaking Ostrobothnia deviated the most from the Blue Zone lifestyle. The findings imply that Nordic longevous regions do not necessarily adhere to the Blue Zone lifestyle. Future research incorporating individual, community and societal factors could further elucidate whether and how longevity, lifestyle and health are interconnected in different ethnolinguistic contexts to further advance the understanding of healthy ageing and improve the implementation of effective health-promoting initiatives.
为了延缓老年人口对社会和医疗保健服务的利用，人们越来越关注个人和/或社区层面所采用的促进健康的生活方式的作用。长寿通常被视为健康的最终结果，尽管高预期寿命并不一定与健康和/或促进健康的生活方式相伴。在不同的文化、政治、社会和经济背景下，长寿、健康和生活方式之间的潜在一致性可能会有所不同。这项位于长寿情况不同地区的北欧区域研究旨在：（i）探索芬兰西部四个地区（双语的奥兰群岛、说瑞典语的奥兰岛和说芬兰语的南博滕区）在遵循全面的、促进健康的蓝色区域生活方式原则方面的差异；（ii）调查各地区在健康方面的差异。因此，本研究旨在检验在最长寿的地区，对蓝色区域生活方式原则的遵循情况和良好健康状况是否最为突出。使用了2021 - 2022年老年学区域数据库的调查数据。采用方差分析计算边际均值。结果显示，芬兰最长寿的地区奥兰岛健康状况最佳，环境适宜性更高，但偏离了多项蓝色区域生活方式原则。说瑞典语的博滕区健康状况良好，且遵循蓝色区域生活方式。南博滕区健康状况最差，但在遵循蓝色区域生活方式方面与说瑞典语的博滕区相当。说芬兰语的博滕区偏离蓝色区域生活方式的程度最大。研究结果表明，北欧长寿地区不一定遵循蓝色区域生活方式。未来纳入个人、社区和社会因素的研究可以进一步阐明在不同的民族语言背景下，长寿、生活方式和健康是否以及如何相互关联，以进一步加深对健康老龄化的理解，并改进有效的促进健康举措的实施。
