NPR.com recently posted a piece titled Tea Tuesdays: Tea-Drinking Tips for a Longer Life, an interesting little segment about the virtues of green tea drinking.
The article references a fascinating project that has been more than a decade in the making. National Geographic author and educator Dan Buettner teamed up with leading longevity researchers to identify areas around the world where people live measurably longer. These regions have been dubbed “Blue Zones.” Says Buettner in the NPR piece, “Drink coffee for breakfast, tea in the afternoon, wine at 5:00pm.”
Hmm… it’s 5 o’clock somewhere in the world right now, right? But we digress…
The research team identified key lifestyle characteristics that might explain longevity in each of these five identified Blue Zones. They’ve coined the term for these characteristics “Power 9®.” Following the research, Dan Buettner has taken what he’s learned to cities and businesses across the country, to help people live longer. His book based on the findings, The Blue Zones, is a New York Times bestseller. In 2011, Buettner gave a TEDMED Talk in California that is well worth the 16-minute time to watch. Among these Power 9® characteristics are the following:
- A strong sense of purpose (and the ability to articulate it)
- A commitment to family
- Being an active part of a faith-based community
- Living in an environment of natural (non-exercise) physical activity
- Eating a “plant-slant” diet (don’t forget the wine!)
Research into these Blue Zones is fascinating in its own right, but what we find particularly compelling is how the data can be used to affect a change in unhealthy populations. Alas, there has not been much success in the United States in this regard to date. By looking at places that have been successful, Buettner feels he knows why. The key tenet of “personal responsibility for change” may be holding us back. In America, we are repeatedly told that it is up to us to get ourselves healthy. In places like France and Scandinavia (who have had great success with sustainable, healthy changes), the emphasis is on having a supportive system in place around the individual, rather than it being solely on the individual.
How do you optimize an American community for health? Most of us live in what’s referred to as a life radius where we spend 90% of our lives within 20 miles of home or work. That is where the focus must be. What are the influences within our life radius?
- Public Policy (municipal policies and ordinances)
- Built Environment (city planning, transportation, and public spaces)
- Social Network
- Building Design / Habitat
- Inner Self
By implementing a systems approach, Blue Zones helps communities live longer, better. Rather than relying solely on individual behavioral change, making the healthy choice be an easy one creates the cornerstone of sustainability.
Read more about the Blue Zones Projects across the country on their website, www.bluezones.com.