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Dead centenarians collected pensions
The controversy began with a paper that observed that most of the blue zones were the poorest areas of their countries. Researchers then went to those places to check on the oldest residents.
Some of the people estimated to be 100 years old were just dead, and their families were collecting the pension. Some of the blue zone research has since been reversed.
Japanese people are known for living longer on average, and some live in cities to a very old age. Okinawa and most of the blue zones still show strong links to sociability, and in Italy the Mediterranean diet is pretty healthy.
Why would poor regions show so many centenarians?
Researcher Saul Newman posted a 2019 analysis arguing that extreme-age records cluster in regions with poor record keeping and short average lifespans. Where birth certificates are missing, an age can be claimed without a document to check it. A pension paid for every living elder also gives families a reason to keep a name on the books. Newman received an Ig Nobel Prize in demography in 2024 for the work.
How did Japan find its missing centenarians?
In July 2010, officials in Tokyo visited the home of a man registered as 111 years old and found his remains, which had been there for decades. The discovery led the Justice Ministry to check records of people listed as 100 or older. More than 200,000 of them could not be located. Many were thought to have died or moved without the registry being updated.
Why does sociability link to long life?
Psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues pooled 148 studies in a 2010 meta-analysis published in PLOS Medicine. They found people with stronger social relationships had a 50 percent greater likelihood of survival over the follow-up periods. Proposed mechanisms include lower stress hormones, practical help in illness, and more routine activity. The effect size was comparable to that of quitting smoking.
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