As the population ages, why is there a continued focus on youth? Is
it denial or is there something to it? As it turns out the focus on a
'youthful feeling' may have a really pay off. In a JAMA Internal
Medicine article, it found that "people who felt three or more
years younger than their actual (chronological) age had a lower death
rate compared with those who felttheir age or those who felt more
than one year older than their actual age." There was a strong
relationship between feeling younger and cardiovascular health.
Why? feeling younger leads to better overall health habits. There
was strong correlation with 'good habits' like exercise. “When people
see themselves as old, they’re more likely to abandon physical
challenges which feel difficult, such as, ‘I don’t think I should ski any
more, I’m an old man.’ When people feel younger psychologically,
even if physical exercise is challenging, they’re more likely to pursue
it, believing no pain no gain,” Godman (2014 ). When people feel
younger, they also make better choices about diet and that has a
positive impact as well. Feeling younger also bring about a better
sense of resiliancy and that keeps people young as well (Godman,
2014).
In an interesting article by Clarke and Kortochenko, 2011, they
discuss the the change in focus from appearance to function as we
age and that while there can certainly be overlap that is subject to
social and societal pressures much of the gains are in terms of
relative function . There are certainly variations between men and
women but they found " that the onset of health issues and a
concomitant loss of functional abilities led to a re-evaluation of their
personal priorities whereby looks became less salient." Clarke and
Kortochenko (2011) The focus on youth becomes the end around to
feel better and function better in the time we have in our bodies
rather than to focus on looking younger as the goal.
Clarke, L. H., & Korotchenko, A. (2011). Aging and the Body: A
Review. Canadianjournalonaging=Larevuecanadiennedu
vieillissement, 30(3), 495–
510. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980811000274
Godman, H. (2014, January 19). Feelingyoungeratheartmayhelpyou
liveonger. Home | Harvard Medical School. Retrieved January 24,
2022, from https://hms.harvard.edu/
Rippon I, Steptoe A. Feeling Old vs Being Old: Associations Between
Self-perceived Age and Mortality. JAMAIntern
Med. 2015;175(2):307–309. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.6580
