Average life expectancy in the USSR by year. Life expectancy in the USSR
Every year, life expectancy in the world increases. Our descendants will live much longer than us. After all, progress does not stand still, and modern medicine can defeat most known diseases. Nowadays it is not difficult to be healthy if you follow certain rules.
But how was it before? How did our predecessors live in the USSR? In those years, medicine was not so developed (especially in our country), and there was no talk of promoting sports and caring for one’s health. In the article, you will find out what life expectancy was in the USSR at that time.
The average life expectancy in the USSR was undermined by many repressions: “collectivization”, Stalinism, “Red Terror”. If the level of life expectancy did not become lower, it remained in place, rising at an insignificantly slow pace. The civil war, revolution, collectivization and other events claimed countless human lives. The losses were mainly among the male population. Statistics put the figure at 60 million. Few lived to old age, most often women.
In 1917, the average life expectancy reached 32 years and two decades later it was 42 years (in 1939).
Then came the most terrible period in the history of the USSR - the Great Patriotic War. Our country suffered huge losses of about 27.5 million people. And again, deaths were mainly among the male population. They took very young men to war, barely even beginning to shave. After this war, the life expectancy rate in the country dropped to an extremely low level.
After the war, Stalin dies, and post-war repressions begin to decline. They cannot be compared with the horror that happened in 1937. The country is entering a period of calm development and prosperity. People do not suffer from hunger, urban infrastructure is developing, medicine is gaining momentum.
The beginnings of social security are appearing in the state: free healthcare, affordable education, providing additional jobs for the unemployed. The people, in turn, respond to the government with no less zeal to develop the country. The life expectancy in the USSR was 70 years in 1975. People easily start families, enjoy government benefits, and work. Young students, graduate students, and bachelors from all over the world flock to the USSR to study at our universities. In those years, the education system flourished.
People get used to stability, are not afraid of being fired from their jobs and know that sooner or later they will be provided with housing. The overall picture was spoiled by a shortage of goods and products. But our people have always been distinguished by ingenuity and resourcefulness. People went to Crimea, Sochi, and other places to get the things they needed. Such activities were prohibited, but the authorities often turned a blind eye to this, because they understood that there was no way without it.
Alcohol was added to the fire. Our people actively consumed alcoholic beverages, and large doses of alcohol can undermine the health of even the most active and young citizens. Not only did people not control their alcohol intake, but the products were often “scorched.” But the introduction of Gorbachev's reform in 1985 improved the situation. In 1985, the life expectancy in the state reached 72 years. The USSR was one of 10 countries in the world with a high standard of living. The long-awaited prosperity has come to the state.
However, by 1997, the situation had changed dramatically against the backdrop of interethnic conflicts, the Chechen war and an unhealthy criminal situation in the state. Life expectancy was 56 years.
More details about life in the USSR:
Life expectancy in the USSR by year
Below are the statistics of the life expectancy in the Soviet Union in peacetime.
Years | Siberian Journal of Journalists |
1958-1959 | 68.5 |
1960-1961 | 69.5 |
1962-1963 | 69.5 |
1964-1965 | 70.5 |
1966-1967 | 70 |
1968-1969 | 69.5 |
1970-1971 | 69.5 |
1972-1973 | 69.5 |
1974-1975 | 68.5 |
1976-1977 | 68 |
1978-1979 | 68 |
1980-1981 | 67.5 |
1982-1983 | 68 |
Scientific demographers argue that life expectancy indicators in the USSR are overestimated over the years due to inaccurate information on life expectancy in many countries (Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan).
Demographic situation in Russia today
Compared to the USSR, we have not advanced so far. About 63% of the population in Russia live to be sixty years old. In the west it is about 93%. By 2000, the life expectancy in our country was only 59 years. Compared to Japan (77 years) these are insignificant numbers.
There are many reasons for this state of affairs: undeveloped medicine, low standard of living in many parts of the country, little social support from the government, and the same problem of alcoholism and drug use. Such factors have a detrimental effect on the demographic situation in the country.
Today the Russian government is trying to improve the situation: to promote a healthy lifestyle, introduce large taxes on alcohol and tobacco products, provide free medical care, and improve infrastructure. But for now this is not enough.
The table clearly shows the dynamics of population growth in Russia over the years.
Year | General | Men | Women |
1990 | 69.1 | 63.7 | 74.3 |
1995 | 64.5 | 58.1 | 71.5 |
2000 | 65.5 | 59 | 72.2 |
2002 | 64.9 | 58.6 | 71.9 |
2005 | 65.3 | 58.9 | 72.4 |
2007 | 67.6 | 61.4 | 74 |
2008 | 67.9 | 61.9 | 74.2 |
2009 | 68.7 | 62.8 | 74.7 |
2010 | 68.9 | 63 | 74.8 |
2011 | 69.8 | 64 | 75.6 |
2012 | 70.2 | 64.5 | 75.8 |
2013 | 70.8 | 65.1 | 76.3 |
2014 | 70.9 | 65.3 | 76.5 |
2015 | 71.4 | 65.9 | 76.7 |
2016 | 71.9 | 66.5 | 77 |
From this table it follows that although the life expectancy in the country is growing, it remains at a low level. In fact, we have raised the standard of living from very low to low. The female population invariably lives longer than the male population.
The 90s are to blame, in which life expectancy in the state decreased at a colossal pace.
Today, life expectancy in the country is 66 years for the male half of the population and 78 years for women.
Our country is slowly but surely moving towards increasing the life expectancy threshold. Comparing life expectancy in the USSR and in Russia, we can say that today the situation is much better. And yet, the situation in the country leaves much to be desired. But according to forecasts, by 2020 the life expectancy in the country will be 75 years. We just have to take care of ourselves and our health.
Our children and grandchildren will live longer than us. At least that's how it should be. With the development of civilization, the average human life expectancy increases, and the entire history of the world speaks in favor of this fact. However, our children and grandchildren-great-grandchildren will live longer, unless a terrible relocation of the Earth occurs and natural resources, the main one of which is fresh water, are not depleted to zero.
Some military experts, based on data from various water protection, environmental and statistical services, have come to the conclusion that in our 21st century military clashes that are catastrophic in their destructive power are possible! And their cause may not be oil, not gas, not coal... But the battle for simple clean water! The earth is drying out quickly. Already, in many countries there are serious problems with water.
Until recently, any war was perceived by people almost as a blessing. Only, perhaps, in the last 20th century the attitude towards war as an EVIL thing changed in some way, but even then this happened after the Second World War. The UN condemns war in the 20th century. And in all previous centuries, some tribes willingly slaughtered others, entire civilizations disappeared under sword and fire, and the people constantly demanded victorious armed campaigns from their rulers. The common people were bored without war, although they themselves suffered from them.
Maybe in the 21st century there will be a battle between brothers and brothers not only because of water. If a global war happens, there will be no need to talk about any increase in average life expectancy. Wars have always decimated people, regardless of statistics. But if we assume that there will be no special disasters, both natural and man-made, or military ones, then such an interesting “animal” as the average life expectancy should increase. History speaks about this if you look into the depths of centuries. This is what we will try to do using the example of Russia.
Unfortunately, historians and demographers do not have any reliable sources about the population of Russia before the 1700s. There are only assumptions that from the founding of Moscow in 1147 until the 17th and 18th centuries, people generally did not live long. And the population itself was scattered, disunited, and multiplied according to the principle of “give birth more.” Because almost half of the children will die anyway. Women really gave birth a lot, because in order to survive, families had to be large and close-knit. More children - more workers! Plowmen, blacksmiths, modelers, carpenters...
The common people knew almost nothing about contraception. The best method of contraception for a girl was to get a kick from an excited man, but you can run away once, well, twice, and in order to feed and survive, you had to return to the community, to your family. Cases of incest also happened then, and women gave birth even from their own fathers, brothers, grandfathers, and not just from boyfriends and husbands.
But here’s the problem: people died out just as quickly. Terrible epidemics wiped out the population. Sometimes entire cities and surrounding villages were “besieged.” The births were attended by grandmothers, and not by obstetricians, as now, and there was no equipment for accommodating and caring for women in labor, no medicines, no special hygiene... A lot of babies and mothers died during childbirth. Men were killed in trainloads in wars and riots. That is, in the Middle Ages, a large influx of newborns was cut off by the highest mortality rate of people in their youth. Very few people then lived to reach what we understand as full-fledged old age (60 years and above). Medicine was not developed, any cut could fester, and it could lead to death from the most prosaic things.
They didn't live long in the Middle Ages. For example, scientists have calculated that life expectancy in France in the Middle Ages ranged from 21 to 36 years, with an average of 30 years. One of the main reasons was the plague, which devastated almost entire provinces with its deadly course. In Russia, in the 18th century, the first official papers began to be kept to record population decline, that is, dead people. It was then that the official foundations of the current civil registry office system were laid. Whatever one may say, statistics are the backbone of the state. Behind each number is either human fate, or tragedy, or joy. The summary books of the dead of those centuries are already a rudimentary form of statistics.
Demographers in our country compared in their studies population growth in Russia in the 17th century and during the same period in European countries and came to the conclusion that the rate of growth in the number of people in both cases was approximately the same. So the average life expectancy in Russia in the Middle Ages most likely did not differ much from French values for the same period. More men were born, but they also died in larger numbers. Suffice it to say that until the 19th century, almost half of Russian boys did not live to reach the age of ten!
In Rus', however, there is a peculiarity: since ancient times, people here have been severely beaten. And not only external interventionists, but also internal ones. Ivan the Terrible and his oprichnina claimed so many lives that it is difficult to count them even approximately. For some reason, Russian rulers have always been honored by repression of their own people. “Beat your own so that strangers will be afraid.” The Soviet era, after the revolutions, especially showed this. In principle, our kings did not stand on ceremony with the people.
During Soviet times, there were two divergent trends. The average life expectancy of the population against the general background of repressions (“Red Terror”, “collectivization”, “Stalinism”), if not declining, then grew at a snail’s pace. How many lives, mostly men, were claimed by the civil war, plus the revolution, plus collectivization and the liquidation of the kulaks and the bourgeoisie as a class is not known for certain. Famine in Ukraine, “Red Terror”, etc. According to some demographers, approximately 60 million people (!) became victims of the Bolsheviks at the beginning of the Second World War. This refers to the total losses from famine, collectivization, class struggle, Stalin's repression, civil war, and the Soviet-Finnish war. More women managed to live to deep gray hairs, and against the backdrop of many early deaths of young and middle-aged people (soldiers, repressed people, a fairly high mortality rate of young women during officially prohibited abortions), the statistics of average life expectancy in the USSR from 1917 to the beginning of the Second World War were not particularly made me happy. In 1917, life expectancy in the USSR was 32 years, and in 1939 – 42 years (source: Urlanis B.U. Fertility and life expectancy in the USSR. M., 1963)
Then in our history the most terrible war in world history took place - the Great Patriotic War, and the country lost, according to various estimates, approximately 28 million people. Some even put the figure at 45 million, some at 26 million. It seems that now the official figure for human losses in the USSR during the Second World War is 27 million people. The overwhelming majority are again men, young ones, or even without any mustaches, as well as middle-aged men. It is clear that against the backdrop of catastrophic military and civilian losses of the population during the Second World War, average life expectancy statistically “fell below the plinth.”
But finally, the war ended, and then Stalin died. Post-war repressions were no longer as massive as in 1937, and Khrushchev’s thaw is slowly coming and the peaceful (surprising!) development of the Soviet state continues. There is no hunger in the country, cities are being built, there is no war, medicine is actively developing. The state assumes the burden of expenses for free medicine, education, and employment of every citizen. And the people respond positively to the obvious improvement in the quality of existence: the average life expectancy in the USSR is growing, and the so-called “stagnation” of the Brezhnev era (life expectancy in 1975 is already 70 years) has a beneficial effect on this indicator.
People live willingly and for a long time, give birth to children, and are treated for free. Soviet medicine is highly valued not only in the country, but is also recognized in many parts of the world. Hundreds of thousands of young students from all over the world go to medical and other universities of the USSR to study to become doctors, teachers, and engineers. Those times marked the heyday of Soviet higher and secondary specialized education. People are getting used to the fact that, despite the cataclysms in the world, they will have a job, advance payment and salary, utility bills are cheap, and if they are lucky and patient, sooner or later the state will give them a completely comfortable apartment or room in a new house. Yes, there is a shortage of food, clothing, and cars, but people somehow get used to it, “spin”, getting the necessary goods, travel once a year to Sochi or Crimea and live not richly, but quite decently, let’s say.
The USSR, however, suffered great human losses only on the alcohol front, because the citizens drank, and drank actively, and heavy doses of alcohol will break anyone’s body, even a heroic one. Then, when Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign of 1985 passed, not only the birth rate increased, but also the average life expectancy. The Soviet era of “stagnation” and before the Gorbachev era was characterized by stability in life, which resulted in a powerful rise in average life expectancy in the USSR, and by 1985 the country was among the top ten countries in the world with a high life expectancy (71.4 years).
But then the same Gorbachev began to destroy the country, and the citizens did not particularly resist this, and the terrible 90s broke out with mass extinction of the population, interethnic conflicts, Chechen wars, a sea of “scorched” and cheap alcohol, criminal showdowns and a state of disrepair , sometimes beggarly, domestic medicine. The country was again flooded with blood, littered with the corpses of young and middle-aged men (women turned out to be more adapted to changes and many fewer of them died) and the average life expectancy, against the backdrop of a deteriorating quality of life itself and the abysmal state of medicine, went down again, reaching 56 years for men in 1997 -th year.
In addition, millions of young women have migrated to Western countries to marry foreigners. Capable men also flocked there (“brain drain”), which continues to this day. All this has aged the population even more, meaning the ratio of old people to young people. And the demographic “hole” of the 90s, when women almost never gave birth, is just now beginning to hit our higher education system. After all, the moment will soon come when the number of school graduates with complete secondary education will be almost several times lower than the number of places in institutes and universities! Go wherever you want! All these are echoes of the 90s.
Now, since the beginning of the 2000s, the situation with the birth rate has been improving, and I would like the trend of increasing average life expectancy to continue. True, this parameter is growing not due to mass birth rates, but due to the aging of the entire population as a whole. That is, due to an increase in the number of older people in general. But women still give birth, and I hope there will be no revolutions, repressions, famines or genocide in Russia at least in the foreseeable future. Enough, we've already eaten enough. I just want a long period of peaceful development. And then our children and grandchildren will decide how to live further.
Although, probably, even a couple of years ago, Egyptian citizens had no idea that the Arab Spring and subsequent upheavals would burst into their measured lives. Tens of thousands of dead and dead in Syria also did not count the minutes until the civil war. The world is slowly boiling, and how things will turn out is unclear. But I would still like to hope that the cup of another fratricidal war will pass over Russia...
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Some statistics: By the first Russian revolution of 1905, approximately 135 million people lived in Russia. The maximum number of inhabitants was recorded in the Soviet years, at the end of the existence of the USSR, the population of the entire Union reached almost 290 million people (1991). The recent Russian census of 2010 gave a figure of 145 million people. As we see, over more than 100 years, the country's population has grown by only 10 million souls.
In Soviet times, however, already far after the Second World War, during the so-called Brezhnev “stagnation”, another value was taken - a record life expectancy of people. Now it is 70.3 years in Russia according to 2011 data. For men - 64.3 years, for women - 76.1.
Life expectancy, or the average life expectancy of the population, is a statistical indicator indicating the number of years that, on average, a generation of newborns or peers will live at a certain level of age-related mortality. This indicator is given great importance in demographic statistics when assessing the overall mortality of the population. To obtain life expectancy indicators, tables of mortality (see) and average life expectancy are compiled. Mortality tables give an idea of the order of extinction or survival of a certain number of births by age group. The initial population of births is usually taken to be 100,000. By successively multiplying the numbers of those surviving to a certain age by the probability of surviving to the next age, successive numbers of survivors are obtained, from which the life expectancy values for each age are determined. The tables compiled in this way reflect the order of survival, which is possible provided that during the lifetime of a generation, the mortality rates by age of those years for which the tables were compiled were preserved. Using these tables, it is possible to calculate for each specific conditions the life expectancy of men, women, the population of individual regions and cities, etc. For example, from data published by the Central Statistical Office of the USSR for 1958-1959. The average life expectancy of men in these years was 64.42 years, i.e., boys born in these years were expected to live an average of 64.42 years; for 5-year-old boys, life expectancy was 63.46 years, i.e. that is, they had to live on average another 63.46 years, and in total, therefore, 5 + 63.46 = 68.46 years; for men who reached 30 years of age, the average life expectancy was 40.71 years, i.e., in total, each of them could live on average 30 + 40.71 = 70.71 years, etc.
The concept of “average life expectancy” should not be confused with the concept of “average age of the living” or “average age of the deceased”. For example, the average age of births is 0 years, and the average life expectancy is 70 years.
The average life expectancy indicator does not depend on the age and sex composition of the population, on the level of population migration. This indicator depends only on the mortality rate by age group.
The difference in life expectancy between men and women depends on their different mortality rates by age group. The data presented indicate a constant improvement in the health of the population of the USSR, expressed in increased life expectancy.
Life expectancy (more precisely, the average life expectancy of the population) in demographic and sanitary statistics is the number of years that, on average, a given generation of births or peers of a certain age will live, provided that throughout their entire life, mortality in each age group will be the same as it was in the year for which the calculation was made. This procedure for calculating life expectancy is accepted in international statistical practice. Therefore, the average life expectancy indicators calculated for different countries are comparable.
Life expectancy should not be confused with the “average age of the dead” and the “average age of the living.” The average age of the deceased is the sum of the years lived by the deceased divided by their number. The average age of the living is the sum of the years lived from birth by all living people, divided by their number. Both of these indicators have no scientific significance and are unsuitable for characterizing the health of the population, since they depend not so much on life expectancy as on the age composition of the population. As the birth rate increases, the average age of both the living and the dead decreases, and as the birth rate decreases, it increases. The same thing happens as a result of changes in the age composition of the population due to migration.
Life expectancy indicators are obtained from mortality tables (see) and average life expectancy. For example, from the tables of mortality and average life expectancy of the population of the USSR for 1958-1959 published by the Central Statistical Office of the USSR. it can be seen that the average life expectancy of men in these years was 64.42 years for newborns, i.e. men born in these years had to live on average 64.42 years; for men 5 years of age, life expectancy was 63.46 years, i.e., they had to live on average another 63.46 years, and in total, therefore, 5 + 63.46 = 68.46 years; for men who had reached 30 years of age, the average life expectancy was 40.71 years, i.e., in total, each of them could live on average 30 + 40.71 = 70.71 years, etc.
To obtain life expectancy indicators, it is necessary to calculate mortality and average life expectancy tables. The calculation of such tables is carried out based on census data on the number of age-sex groups of the population and on materials on the age distribution of deaths in the years adjacent to the census year, from which the probabilities of survival to a certain age are determined. The initial population of births is usually taken to be 100,000. By successively multiplying the numbers of those surviving to a certain age by the probability of surviving to the next age, successive numbers of survivors are obtained, from which the life expectancy values for each age are determined. The tables compiled in this way reflect the order of survival, possible provided that throughout the life of the entire generation, the sanitary living conditions of those years for which the tables were compiled were preserved. Thus, the mortality tables of the USSR population in 1958-1959 published by the Central Statistical Office of the USSR. indicate that if the sanitary living conditions of the population remained unchanged (the same as they were in 1958-1959), then the order of survival to a certain age, life expectancy, probability of death, etc. would be the same as indicated in the tables.
Since in fact the living conditions and sanitary state of the population change, the tables of mortality and average life expectancy characterize the sanitary state only of the place and those years or those closest to them for which they are calculated. As the living conditions of the population change over time, new mortality and life expectancy tables should be calculated. For practical health purposes, short tables of mortality and average life expectancy are quite sufficient.
Life expectancy indicators in the most economically developed capitalist countries and their changes over the last century are shown in Table 1. The increase in life expectancy over recent decades has been achieved mainly due to a decrease in infant mortality and a decrease in mortality from tuberculosis, acute infectious and some other diseases that primarily affect the population in young and middle ages. In elderly and senile ages, where the most common causes of death are cardiovascular diseases and malignant tumors, life expectancy has increased slightly compared to previous decades, since mortality from these causes is not decreasing.
Economically backward capitalist countries, dependent countries and colonies have a life expectancy significantly lower than economically developed capitalist countries.
The average life expectancy of the population of the USSR is shown in Table 2. In the USSR, as a result of the enormous social transformations that took place after the Great October Socialist Revolution, significant changes in life expectancy were achieved. Compared to 1896-1897. already in 1926-1927. life expectancy increased by 12 years (from 32 to 44 years). In 1962-1963 average life expectancy reached 70 years, i.e. it was more than 2 times more than in 1896-1897, and more than 1.5 times more than in 1926-1927. The average life expectancy increased especially for women who were freed from everyday enslavement and received equal rights to work, rest and education with men. With an average increase compared to 1896-1897. life expectancy in 1926-1927 from 32 to 44 years old, i.e. by 38%, and in 1962-1963. up to 70 years, or by 119%; in women, the extension of average life expectancy was respectively from 33 to 47 years, i.e. 42%, and up to 73 years, or 121%, and in men - from 31 to 42 years, i.e. 35%, and up to 65 years, or 110%. The successful implementation of plans for building a communist society will lead to an even greater lengthening of the average life expectancy of the population.
See also Demography, Sanitary statistics.
Table 1. Average life expectancy of the population(in years)
Table 2. Average life expectancy of the population of the USSR(in years)
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on April 21 that in 1932, the average life expectancy in the USSR was 35 years. He said this while reporting to the State Duma and referred to Rosstat. I'm afraid that now young people will think that in the Soviet Union people barely lived to be 35. And they will also refer to Rosstat. Let's figure out what the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation said and why and what Rosstat knows about it.
With his statement in the Duma, Dmitry Medvedev essentially entered into a dispute with President Putin about raising the retirement age.
Putin said during the direct line that it is illogical to raise the retirement age to 65 years, since the average life expectancy of men in Russia today is 65 and a half years. “If we set the retirement age at 65, excuse me for the simplicity of the expression, I worked it out in a wooden mackintosh and went? This is impossible,” the President said on April 16.
And on April 21, the prime minister answered him in absentia: “I will remind you that the current retirement age – 60 and 55 years – was established in 1932. At the same time, the average life expectancy (I called yesterday specifically to check the Rosstat data) was then 35 years. In 1932, the average life expectancy... I myself was surprised that life expectancy was so low, but nevertheless these are Rosstat data.”
It is interesting that many today’s young Russians also refer to Rosstat, claiming that in the city of Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod region, today the average life expectancy is 45 years. And this is false information.
Here is what the table of life expectancy at birth looks like in Russia from 1896 to 2014, posted on the Rosstat website:
Whole population |
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(across 50 provinces of European Russia) |
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1926-1927 | |||
(for the European part of the RSFSR) |
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1961-1962 | |||
From this table it is easy to find out that Rosstat does not have information on the average life expectancy of Soviet citizens in 1932. (If they exist, then why would Rosstat hide them?) This information from Rosstat coincides with the table of life expectancy from the statistical collection “,” prepared by the State Statistics Committee of Russia and published in 1998. In the same statistical collection there is the following graph of life expectancy in the USSR:
The graph clearly shows that the life expectancy curve, due to the lack of data on age-related mortality between 1927 and 1959, is simply linearly interpolated between two data break points. It follows from the graph that the average life expectancy of citizens of both sexes in the USSR in 1932 should have been approximately 45 years, and not 35, as Dmitry Medvedev reported, citing Rosstat data.
Rosstat probably has secret information that is inaccessible to the general public. However, in this case there would be no point in hiding them, since we are talking about the most controversial and difficult period of Soviet history for the population: the era of collectivization, industrialization, repression and the Great Patriotic War.
But, apparently, the issue is not the secrecy of the information from the period 1927–1959, but its inaccuracy. The materials of the All-Union Population Census of 1937 (declared defective and classified), for which the leaders of the Central Directorate of National Economic Accounting of the USSR State Planning Committee were shot, were published in 1990. These materials precisely state that due to poor organization of the work of registry offices in the period from 1927 to 1937 and due to poorly controlled population movement across the country, mortality rates have large errors. So public references to Rosstat in such circumstances resemble the hackneyed phrase “as British scientists found out.”
In the case of the city of Dzerzhinsk, an outright falsification of facts, planted by the American NGO Blacksmith Institute in 2006, worked. The falsification was exposed and refuted. But the false statement that in Dzerzhinsk people live on average 45 years and that Rosstat said so has become firmly entrenched in the minds of many, even not very young people.
I’m afraid that after the loud words of the Russian Prime Minister about life expectancy in the USSR, disturbing rumors about Rosstat data will again spread. Therefore, I think it’s worth talking about the concept of “average life expectancy” or, more correctly, “life expectancy at birth.”
“Life expectancy at birth is the number of years that, on average, one person from a generation born in a given calendar year would live if, throughout the life of that generation, the mortality rate at each age remained the same as in the year(s) for of which the indicator was calculated,” this definition is given in the statistical collection “ Population of Russia over 100 years (1897–1997)».
And this is how life expectancy is calculated.
At the end of each year, statistical authorities calculate age-specific mortality rates - divide the total number of deaths per year at a given age by the average annual number of people of a given age. (The number of deaths is reported to statistical authorities by the registry offices of all localities in the country.) These coefficients characterize the average mortality rate in each age group in a calendar year.
For example, the 2010 Demographic Yearbook of Russia gives the following table of age-specific mortality rates in Russia in 2009 (the number of deaths per 10,000 people of the population of the corresponding sex and age):
Men and women | |||
85 or more |
Age-specific mortality rates show the probability of dying within a year for each age. That is, out of 10,000 newborns, 81 babies are likely to die within a year. And 9,919 babies of both sexes have a chance of living this year safely (9,919 = 10,000 – 81). And so on for all age groups.
For each age, the number of people surviving until the end of the year is calculated: the number of people of a given age is multiplied by the probability of surviving the year. Starting with newborns, 10,000 babies. For them, the probability of surviving the year is 0.9919. This means that 9919 people will live to reach the age of 1 year. For the age group 1 – 4 years, the probability of surviving a year is 0.9995 (0.9995 = 1 – 0.0005). We multiply the number of children who survived to one year, 9919, by 0.9995 and get the number of children who survived to 2 years: 9914 people. And so on for all ages. We get that 5,031 out of 10,000 babies born in 2009 will live to be 72 years old—about half. And 1,710 people will be able to live to be 85 years old - slightly less than one fifth of Russians born in 2009.
Next, for each age group, its size is calculated. They simply take the arithmetic average of the number of those who survived the lower and upper boundaries of the group. For example, for the age group 1 year, you need to take the number of infants who lived to be one year old (9919), add it with the number of children who lived to be 2 years old (9914) and divide their sum by two. We get that there will be 9916 one-year-old children of the 2009 generation. And there will be 1,814 Russians aged 84 out of 10,000 born in 2009.
Then they add up the number of all age groups - from 0 to 85 years - and get the number of person-years that the estimated population of those born will have to live if in the future the same level of age-related mortality remains that was recorded in the year of their birth. For 10,000 people born in 2009, the total number of person-years is 676,941.
Now we divide the total number of person-years born by the number of births and get their average (expected) life expectancy. For 10,000 newborns in 2009, the average life expectancy is 67.69 years (676941: 10000 = 67.6941).
What does the number 67.69 years mean for newborns of 2009?
– That each of them will definitely live to this age? No.
Calculations show that 59% of those born in 2009 will live to age 68.
– That each of them will die before this age? No.
Calculations show that half of the 2009 generation will live to be 72 years old, and a fifth will even live to be 84.
Average life expectancy characterizes the quality of life in a state, and not the chance of a long or short life for a particular person.
Pre-revolutionary Russia had a very high infant mortality rate. Even in many wealthy families it was possible to raise only a portion of the offspring born. Of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's 13 children, five died. In the family of public school inspector Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov, out of eight children, two died before reaching the age of one year. In simpler families, up to half of the children born died. But the survivors had good health and often lived to a ripe old age, if life proceeded without shocks.
If in 1932 statistics really showed an average life expectancy of 35 years, as Dmitry Medvedev told us, this does not mean that everyone died at exactly 35 years old, having no chance of living to retirement age.
This means that, firstly, infant mortality was still high. Secondly, the country was undergoing collectivization and industrialization - large-scale social changes, people moved en masse from villages to cities and to construction sites of the century, worked hard, lived tensely. And the time was not entirely peaceful. In the registry office, the collection of statistics obviously did not keep pace with life. Somewhere in them the Vorobyaninov kitties warmed up, wanting sleepy tranquility, but not the seething streams of the builders of communism, and somewhere illiterate workers were unable to get things done correctly.
Keeping in mind this quality of life in young years, the state took care of its tired citizens in 1932, who worked hard for society - it assigned them a labor pension of 55 years for women, 60 years for men. Because these men and women not only raised the country from the devastation of the Civil War, but also eliminated illiteracy, built a new education system, a new health care system, a new industry, a new country. They were worthy of a quiet old age.
And if today the Prime Minister of Russia reproaches us with the intention of raising the retirement age of Russians in 1932, then should we consider this a reward for not preserving what our grandfathers and great-grandfathers created?
In the city district of Dmitrovsky, an outpatient clinic for 75 visits per shift was opened on Sireneva Street.18.07.2019 Dmitrovsky Vestnik Anyone wishing to donate blood is welcome from 8.00 to 12.00 at the Shchelkovo blood transfusion station at the address: st.
07/18/2019 Newspaper Vremya Mobile health center specialists are ready to conduct a clinical blood test from a vein, an ECG, and measure intraocular and blood pressure.
18.07.2019 Administration of the Stupino urban district
In July 2019, doctors invite Klin residents to undergo a preventive fluorographic examination in clinics at their place of residence on Saturdays: -July 20 – Polyclinic No. 4 (Kyrgyzstan).
07/18/2019 Klinsky district According to the head of the Shchelkovsky Department of Social Protection of the Population, Zhanna Pinyaeva, 371 residents of the district received vouchers, as well as 136 citizens accompanying disabled children to treatment.
07/18/2019 Newspaper Vremya
The issue of life extension is one of the most serious problems of humanity. Entire teams of scientists, sponsored by both the state and private companies and individuals, have worked and are working on its solution. Recently, Rosstat published important news that the life expectancy of Russians has reached a historical maximum, exceeding 72 years, and we decided to dig into statistics for Russia and the world in order to dissect this interesting topic “in its bones.”
Some shifts in this direction are already noticeable, but it is still very early to talk about a stable mass overcoming of the century age. BelowReconomica will consider basic information related to current issues of life extension and health preservation in old age.
How the average life expectancy has changed in Russia: from Rosstat statistics by year
So, let's look at the secrets of active longevity. First, some general information. Table average life expectancy in the Russian Federation by year (since the nineties to this day) looks like this:
Year | General | For men | For women |
1990 | 69.1 | 63.7 | 74.3 |
1995 | 64.5 | 58.1 | 71.5 |
2000 | 65.5 | 59 | 72.2 |
2002 | 64.9 | 58.6 | 71.9 |
2005 | 65.3 | 58.9 | 72.4 |
2007 | 67.6 | 61.4 | 74 |
2008 | 67.9 | 61.9 | 74.2 |
2009 | 68.7 | 62.8 | 74.7 |
2010 | 68.9 | 63 | 74.8 |
2011 | 69.8 | 64 | 75.6 |
2012 | 70.2 | 64.5 | 75.8 |
2013 | 70.8 | 65.1 | 76.3 |
2014 | 70.9 | 65.3 | 76.5 |
2015 | 71.4 | 65.9 | 76.7 |
2016 | 71.9 | 66.5 | 77 |
Taking a quick look at the table, you can do 2 important conclusions:
- The average life expectancy of men in Russia, although increasing since 1995, still remains very low. In fact, almost all of the overall increase was achieved by reducing male mortality from catastrophically high to simply high. Women still live 11 years longer. Many people do not understand what the term “life expectancy” means. In simple terms, this means that every average girl born in 2017 is expected to live the last 11 years of her life having already buried her spouse.
- As we see, difficult for the country nineties with a high mortality rate for economic reasons, as well as from alcoholism and other addictions, reflected in the statistics. When technological progress was pushing up the standard of living in developed countries, Russia was sinking to the bottom due to economic disaster.
So, let’s remember the current figures for today in order to analyze them further:
- The average life expectancy of men in Russia in 2017 is 66.5 years
- Women - 77 years old
- On average, Russia, according to Rosstat as of mid-2017, reached a level of 72.4 years in life expectancy.
On August 14, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets announced that Average life expectancy in Russia exceeded 72 years for the first time , amounting to 72.4 years based on the results of the first half of 2017, according to preliminary estimates by Rosstat.
How many years did people live in the USSR?
When assessing some parameters of modern life, people often like to remember how things were before the collapse of the USSR. Therefore, we present data on life expectancy in the Soviet Union in the quietest years:
Years | Average duration, years |
1958-1959 | 68.5 |
1960-1961 | 69.5 |
1962-1963 | 69.5 |
1964-1965 | 70.5 |
1966-1967 | 70 |
1968-1969 | 69.5 |
1970-1971 | 69.5 |
1972-1973 | 69.5 |
1974-1975 | 68.5 |
1976-1977 | 68 |
1978-1979 | 68 |
1980-1981 | 67.5 |
1982-1983 | 68 |
However, statistics for the USSR are considered to be overestimated. The main reason is inaccurate information about mortality in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova.
How are our neighbors doing? Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries by life expectancy today
Table for CIS/former USSR countries (current data for the full year 2016):
State | Average life expectancy |
Azerbaijan | 66.3 |
Armenia | 72.4 |
Belarus | 70.2 |
Kazakhstan | 67.35 |
Kyrgyzstan | 68.9 |
Moldova | 70.3 |
Tajikistan | 64.7 |
Turkmenistan | 68.35 |
Uzbekistan | 65.1 |
Georgia (formerly part of the CIS) | 76.55 |
Ukraine (formerly part of the CIS) | 68.1 |
As we see, today, of our closest neighbors, only Georgia is ahead of the Russian Federation in terms of life expectancy; Armenia is at the same level, taking into account the measurement error.
List of countries in the world by average life expectancy (as of 2017 year)
Let us present statistics on longevity by country of the world, separately general, and separately for men and women.
Since there are no statistics for 2017 yet, the rating is based on data for the full year 2016:
List of countries by average life expectancy, part 1
List of countries by average life expectancy, part 2
List of countries by average life expectancy, part 3
List of countries by average life expectancy, part 4
As you can see, global statistics have not yet officially recognized the data for Russia. Collecting statistics around the world is difficult and slow because national results are verified before being published in the peer-reviewed scientific publications from which we obtained the data.
But the data that the Russian Federation has almost reached the 72-year mark comes from Rosstat, which means that we are now between 90th and 100th place in the world in terms of life expectancy. It is also worth saying that this is a national historical record!
Why do women live longer around the world?
There is a clear gender disparity in life expectancy: Women in all countries live longer on average than the stronger sex.
Briefly in numbers: The number of women who lived to 85 years old is on average 2 times more than men. And out of the 49 oldest people in the world, only 2 are men. Why?
Because:
- Attitude to your own health. Men pay much less attention to their health, often “delaying it” until the last minute, until the symptoms of the disease interfere with their lives. Women are much more attentive to their health, more willing to visit doctors and more accurately follow their instructions.
- Attitude to one's own safety. Have you ever seen women who will climb onto the roof of the wall of a house for the sake of an unusual video? Or women who happily jump into water from several stories high? Of course, these also happen, but much more often it is men who commit reckless and dangerous acts.
- Level of psychological stress. Most often, a man's work is constant stress. Add to this the eternal rush to earn more. And moral fatigue, which accumulates over the years, will certainly lead to the appearance of physical problems.
- Lack of time to rest. A man who strives to earn more to provide for his family, in addition to his psychological health, also loses proper rest and often does not get enough sleep.
- Working conditions. The vast majority of all “dangerous” professions are men. And difficult working conditions over a long period of time often lead to either serious illnesses or a general deterioration in health.
- Differences in the functioning of the hormonal system. Testosterone (male sex hormone) partially interferes with the functioning of the immune system, while estradiol (female hormone), on the contrary, helps.
- Difference in nutrition. Men do not have such a need to look slim and count every kilogram. Men don't have enough time to cook healthy food. Men require much more calories than women. All this leads to the fact that representatives of the stronger sex often eat incorrectly.
Role of race: Whose family is destined to live long?
If we talk about racial predisposition to longevity, then it is impossible to single out one race that lives longer than others.
Switzerland leads the ranking of centenarians, with Japan close behind. However, this does not mean that Asians and Europeans live the longest: in other European and Asian countries, the average life expectancy is not nearly as high. Low life expectancy in the countries of the African continent can easily be explained by poverty, hunger, sanitation problems and lack of clean fresh water. Place a European or Japanese in such conditions - how long will he live?
The reason is that the main factor influencing longevity is not nationality or race, but living conditions.
Climate influence
The climate in which a person lives is also important in matters of longevity. It’s not for nothing that trips to the sea or to nature are considered healthy?
Depends indirectly on climatic conditions:
- Diet. For example, in coastal cities, people have more seafood on their menu, which is considered healthier than animal meat.
- Industry sectors. If the region is not suitable for the construction of large industrial facilities, the ecology in such an area will be better and cleaner.
The North Caucasus has the most centenarians in Russia.
The climate directly affects the human body as follows:
- Northern. Low temperatures require the body to spend more calories to “warm up”. Also, due to the lack of sunlight and frosty air, problems with the respiratory system intensify. Lack of light is considered the cause of long-term depression and high mortality from suicide.
- Deserted. Dry air, high temperatures, dust - such conditions constantly keep the respiratory system under tension, making it more susceptible to disease.
- Mountain. In the mountains, the air is not only cleaner: it contains less oxygen. This stimulates the nervous system, increasing performance. When living in the mountains, immunity is usually stronger, and health itself is better.
- Seaside. In the coastal zone, the air is usually cleaner, but also more humid. These conditions may not be suitable for people who have heart or lung disease.
Level of development and accessibility of medicine in developed countries
One of the main factors influencing longevity among residents of developed countries is the level of medical services. Moreover, this nuance can be conditionally divided into several:
- Treatment in case of illness.
- Preventive measures for each citizen individually (vaccinations, diagnostics).
- Preventive measures for the population as a whole (monitoring the state of the environment, the quality of drinking water, food).
Longevity is largely influenced by the quality of medical services. Where would you rather lie?
In developed countries, all these factors are controlled and performed at a high level, using modern methods and equipment.
In less developed countries it is the other way around: the medical sector is often neglected. This affects both the quality of treatment of existing diseases among citizens and preventive measures (which leads to an increase in morbidity).
Russians are starting to live longer: whose merit is this?
In recent years, the life expectancy of Russian citizens has been steadily increasing, as the table at the beginning of the article reliably demonstrates. There are several reasons for this:
- The number of smokers and alcohol consumption decreases. Control over the circulation of alcohol and tobacco has been noticeably tightened in recent years, and prices for these products are rising. In addition, bad habits are going out of fashion: people are now paying more attention to a healthy lifestyle and career.
- Reduced drug use. If we remember the nineties and the beginning of the 2000s, when drugs could be purchased practically without problems and without risk, now in this regard everything has become seriously tougher and more complicated. Of course, drugs are still distributed illegally, and there is more choice, but now both users are tracked and distributors are prosecuted much more effectively.
- The standard of living of the population has increased. The average salary in Russia in 2004 was about 7 thousand rubles. . Of course, prices have also increased, but the situation on the labor market has improved, and the population has the opportunity to spend more on nutritious food and on treatment, although in the last 2-3 years there has been some increase due to the crisis.
- The quality of healthcare has improved. We are talking about both public clinics and private medical institutions, of which there are much more than 15-20 years ago.
- The economic situation in the country has improved. This led to a decrease in crime rates.
What factors influence a person's life expectancy?
The following factors directly or indirectly influence life expectancy:
- Genetics, hereditary diseases and predisposition to them.
- Nutrition.
- Bad habits.
- Regular physical activity(we’re not talking about daily two-hour workouts in the gym, but about moderate activity - exercises, walking, active sports).
- Climate.
- Psychological health (lack of stress, worries).
- Attention to health in childhood and adolescence(on the part of the parents - whether diseases were treated in a timely manner, vaccinations were given, whether the diet was correct, whether the parents led the correct lifestyle before conception and during pregnancy).
- Job(is it associated with heavy physical labor, does it lead to regular stress, does it leave enough time for sleep and rest).
- Quality of medical care(both hospitals that treat existing diseases, and structures that prevent their development).
- Ecology in the region.
What has changed in economics, ecology and medicine over the past 20 years?
Since longevity statistics directly depend on these areas of human activity, we will give a brief description of the most significant news (for the Russian Federation).
In ecology.
In terms of ecology, there have been no positive changes. On the contrary, the situation in this area continues to deteriorate (not only in the Russian Federation - in the world as a whole). Specifically in the Russian Federation, a harmful factor is a large number of large industrial facilities, which worsen air quality with emissions.
Plant “Tatelektromash” (Naberezhnye Chelny), emergency salvo release during commissioning, April 14, 2016
Moreover, due to crises, enterprises have to save money (including on modernization and cleaning), which makes the situation even worse. In addition: uneven deforestation is carried out, the discharge of wastewater into water bodies is poorly controlled, and minerals are often extracted without following safe technology.
In economics.
If we compare the situation in the “nineties” and the state of the economy today, only positive changes are noticeable. Average salaries of the population have increased, the unemployment rate has decreased, and the number of diverse enterprises has increased. Foreign investors are also active in the Russian market.
Let's give a brief table of specific numbers, comparing 2000 and 2014 (the last pre-crisis year when the maximum positive dynamics were observed):
Parameter |
||
GDP, per capita, thousand rubles |
||
Agricultural products produced, billion rubles |
||
Residential space commissioned, million m² |
||
Population, millions |
||
Number of unemployed, % of working population |
||
Average salary in the Russian Federation, thousand rubles |
In medicine.
Just some specific numbers: in 2000, there were 10.7 thousand hospitals and 21.3 thousand clinics operating in the Russian Federation. In 2015, this figure was approximately halved: hospitals - 4,400, clinics - 13,800. However, according to the authorities, this is being done to optimize costs. However, in fact, the population experiences a shortage of medical personnel, primarily pediatricians and general practitioners.
The quality of service and medical capabilities have increased. Qualitative breakthroughs are being observed in dentistry, and in cardiology, and in prosthetics, and in diagnostics, and in gynecology, and in the treatment of oncological diseases, and in pediatrics - that is, in all the most basic and widespread areas. In addition, salaries for medical personnel have increased, which can also indirectly affect the quality of service and the popularity of medical professions. Now . Modern Russian hospitals are better equipped than 15-20 years ago. True, this is not relevant for all medical institutions - in many medical institutions in the regions, the equipment still remains outdated.
Differences by region of the Russian Federation: where do people live longer?
Since Russia is a large country, and conditions in the regions differ from each other, life expectancy in them will also be different.
The figures (for the full year 2015) are as follows:
As we see, people in Russia live a long time either in the clean ecology of the North Caucasus, or in the developed infrastructure of large cities, where an ambulance is guaranteed to arrive and take them to a normal hospital, which has “living” equipment and the necessary medicines.
We identify the key factor in longevity from statistics
If we rationally analyze all the information about longevity (countries in which centenarians live, the standard of living of the population in these countries, the quality of medical care, and so on), then The key factors include the high standard of living of the population and economic stability in the country.
If a citizen has a high income, he can afford highly qualified medical care, proper rest (both moral and physical), proper nutrition, and living in comfortable conditions. If a country has a high standard of living, it means that everything is fine with its economy. This means that the state has the opportunity to allocate funds to maintain the normal state of the environment, to prevent illness, to build modern medical facilities, water treatment plants, to produce high-quality food products, and so on.
Centenarians - who are they?
According to Wikipedia, a person who lives to be 90 years old is considered a centenarian. This age is comparatively high for all countries. However, in some states there are more such people (if we take the ratio of centenarians to the total population), in others there are fewer. Let's try to figure out why.
In which countries do people live to be a hundred years old?
Let's give list of countries where the most people lived to be 100 years old:
- Japan. Moreover, women are long-lived - approximately 87.3% (if we take the last 30 years).
- Sweden. The “concentration” of centenarians in relation to the population here is quite high: with 9.4 million citizens, there are about 1,600 centenarians (that is, approximately 1 in 5,888 people lives to be 100 years old).
- United Kingdom. There is 1 centenarian for every 6,777 citizens.
- Cuba. In total, about 1,500 people live in Cuba who celebrated their 100th anniversary. In relation to the total number - 1 centenarian per 7222 people.
As we see, the chances of the average person to overcome the century mark today are really negligible! It’s easier to win a large sum in the lottery.
About long-lived record holders (video)
Guinness Book of Records record holders
Here is a list of the “very, very” long-livers.
Among those living today:
- V. Brown (Jamaica). Born March 10, 1900 (age 117).
- Nabi Tajima (Japan). August 4, 1900 (116 years old).
- Chiyo Miyako (Japan) May 2, 1901 (116 years old).
- Marie-Josephine Gaudette (Italy). March 25, 1902 (115 years old).
- Giuseppina Proetto-Frau (Italy). May 30, 1902 (age 115).
- Kane Tanaka (Japan). January 2, 1903 (114 years old).
- Maria Giuseppa Robucci-Nargiso (Italy). March 20, 1903 (114 years old).
- Iso Nakamura (Japan). April 23, 1903 (114 years old).
- Tae Ito (Japan). July 11, 1903 (114 years old).
In 2017, two centenarians from this list died:
- Ana Vela Rubio (Spain). October 29, 1901 (died at 116 years old).
- Emma Morano (Italy) November 29, 1899 (died at 117 years old).
Of the confirmed dead:
- Jeanne Calment (France). She lived 122 years and 164 days.
- Sarah Knauss (USA). Lived 119 years and 97 days.
- Lucy Hannah (USA). She lived 117 years and 248 days.
- Maria Louise Meyer (Canada). She lived 117 years and 230 days.
- Emma Morano (Italy). She lived 117 years and 137 days.
- Misao Okawa (Japan). Lived 117 years and 27 days.
- Maria Esther de Capovilla (Ecuador). She lived 116 years and 347 days.
- Suzanne Mushatt Jones (USA). She lived 116 years and 311 days.
- Gertrude Weaver (USA). She lived 116 years and 276 days.
- Tane Ikai (Japan). She lived 116 years and 175 days.
An interesting nuance: the first man from this list is found only in the 16th position, and there are only 6 men in the list of 99 items.
Unconfirmed centenarians (age is known only from the words of the person himself):
- Li Qingyun (China). Supposedly lived 256 years.
- Anna Feinset (USA). She supposedly lived to be 195 years old.
- Mom Efisho (Nigeria). She supposedly lived to be 193 years old.
- Elizabeth Mahony (USA). She supposedly lived to be 191 years old.
- Mahashta Murasi (India). Supposedly he lived to be 182 years old.
- Tense Abaeva (South Ossetia). Supposedly she lived 180 years.
- Ezekiel Srenze (Uganda). Supposedly lived 180 years.
- James Olofintuyi (Nigeria). Supposedly he lived to be 172 years old.
- Pa Aki Onoforere (Nigeria). Supposedly he lived 170 years.
- Hancer Nine (Türkiye). She supposedly lived to be 169 years old.
About a man who lived (?) 256 years: truth or fiction? (video)
Where do long-livers live: the role of nutrition and ecology
Let's highlight several places where people are statistically more likely to live to 90 years of age. The data was collected by Dan Buettner (an American researcher, traveler, writer who researched the secrets of longevity).
- Japan - Okinawa Island. It’s easy to meet a person aged 80-90 on this island (whose population is about 1 million inhabitants). Moreover, he will look 10-30 years younger than the number in the passport. Okinawans eat often, but in small portions. The diet includes fresh vegetables and fruits, soy and tofu. Martial arts are common on the island, various breathing techniques are practiced, and in general the population leads an active lifestyle.
- Italy - island of Sardinia, city of Ovvoda. One of the most beautiful paradises of the Mediterranean. Residents of the island do not adhere to any special diet, eating what is common in their region (seafood and traditional Italian dishes). However, Den Büttner cites an interesting fact: previously, the inhabitants of Ovvod lived separately, and often married only within their community. Genetically, people born here are predisposed to longevity.
- Costa Rica - Nicoya Peninsula. There are no state-of-the-art medical centers or any very healthy food products that are produced nearby. Pure nature and a calm flow of life are perhaps what have a positive effect on the longevity of local residents. Statistically, they are about 4 times more likely to live to age 90 than the average US citizen (who spends much more money on healthcare).
- Greece - Icarus Island. About 6 out of 10 local residents live to be 90 years old. Among the features of the lifestyle are a diet with a predominance of seafood and fresh vegetables, regularity and tranquility, clean air and a warm and favorable climate. Local wine, which is prepared right there, without preservatives or chemical additives, is also highly valued here. This type of diet is also known as the “Mediterranean diet.” Numerous studies have proven the positive effects of such a diet on health.
As we see, The main factors for longevity are a warm (but not abnormally hot) climate, fresh and clean air, a measured life and nutrition without an abundance of harmful foods.
Proven: Daily work keeps you healthy and sane until the very end.
Many of those who have lived beyond 90 years point to constant activity as their secret to longevity.
And also to longevity!
A simple analogy can be given: any equipment that sits idle deteriorates (it rusts, some parts dry out, dust accumulates in the mechanisms, and so on). Inaction has a bad effect on the human body, both moral and physical.
That is why it is extremely important to constantly develop and be active in different directions (work both physically and mentally). We are not talking about exhausting work for 14-20 hours a day - you need to work in moderation, but regularly.
This also applies to those who have already retired (or for some reason can afford not to work). Various studies have a similar conclusion: early retirement from work leads to premature extinction: the meaning of life is lost, depression occurs from lack of communication, physical activity decreases, and the desire to live further disappears. And after that, nature simply gets rid of the “obsolete material.”
What centenarians themselves say about their secret to longevity: 5 quotes
Emma Morano, Italian centenarian, 117 years old (oldest person to live in 3 centuries: born 1899 and died 2017).
According to Emma, starting at the age of 20, she ate 3 eggs (raw or boiled) daily, on the advice of her doctor. Otherwise, in terms of diet, she did not adhere to any strict restrictions: she ate meat, chocolate, and sometimes drank alcohol. According to her doctor, there weren’t very many fruits and vegetables in her diet.
She considers one of the secrets of longevity to be a small number of years in marriage, thanks to which she did not waste energy on relationships. She was married twice, after 1938 and until the end of her life - she lived without a husband.
Leila Denmark, USA, 114 years old.
She believed that the secret of longevity lies in a happy marriage (she herself lived with her husband for more than 60 years) and a favorite job. Leila continued to work until she was 103 years old.
Israel, 110 years old.
Being a talented musician (pianist), she believed that the secret of longevity was doing what she loved, which made her happy. She said that the worst thing that can happen in life is boredom.
You can also highlight optimism: Alice believed that there should be no time for pessimism and hatred, and that they eat up the soul.
Misao Okawa, Japan, 117 years old.
She said that the key to a long life lies in sufficient rest (at least 8 hours a day, and, if possible, naps during the day), the ability to relax and proper nutrition. Misao's favorite dish was sushi, which she could eat three times a day. I also drank coffee every day.
According to doctors, the secret of the woman’s longevity was good health (she had no serious illnesses throughout her life) and a strong psyche.
Giselle Cazadsu, France, 102 years old.
I believed that the key to longevity is love: for your husband, for your children, for your family. She also said that it is necessary to always study, since training the mind slows down its old age.
She led a relatively correct lifestyle: she monitored her diet (sometimes allowing herself wine), and did regular physical exercise. She also doesn’t forget about genetics: in terms of health, she didn’t experience any special problems.
- Give up bad habits. Smoking, alcohol - all this is unacceptable even in minimal doses.
- Get your diet in order. You will have to learn a lot about the rules of healthy eating: dietetics is a whole science that should be applied individually for each person.
- Get your routine in order. It is advisable to sleep 7-8 hours, and ideally at night.
- Stay physically active. It is not necessary to be a professional athlete, but regular (ideally daily) exercise for 15-20 minutes will definitely be useful. Walk more, get yourself some kind of active hobby (swimming, cycling, table tennis, and so on - as desired).
- Monitor your health. Prevention is easier than cure - so visit doctors every 1-2 years (at least). You can make a basic list of specialists: cardiologist, urologist (gynecologist), therapist, gastroenterologist, neurologist. If you don’t have the time or desire, you can limit yourself to a therapist. It is also advisable to get tested annually.
- Don't delay treatment. The main problem preventing our people from living long is the development of diseases. Many of us go to the doctor only when the symptoms become obvious and intolerable.
- Avoid stress. Conflict less, quarrel, try to avoid communicating with people who are unpleasant to you. Spend more time with your loved ones, do something together.
- Choose the right job. If the goal is longevity, then you definitely shouldn’t work in difficult places for a long time. Loaders, miners, workers in “heavy” industry - among such professions, long-livers are unlikely to be very common.
- If possible, change your place of residence, if your city has environmental problems.
- Be more social. Socially active and outgoing people tend to be more optimistic and positive.
If we upset someone with dry numbers and facts, breaking the plan to live more than 100 years, don’t worry in vain. Statistics in general reflect the past more; we ALREADY live in a different world. For example, The average life expectancy in Russia in the 19th century was only 32 years(and in Europe - not much more than this figure; no one lived in European countries for more than 40 years at that time). Could anyone then have imagined that at 70-80 years old one could be an active person? And only a little more than 100 years have passed.
We don't know the future. Until now, technological progress has only increased life expectancy. The Japanese, who are 80-90 years old today, had 2 nuclear bombs dropped on them during their lifetime! Stay positive and take care of your health, you will need it for many years to come!