Health-span vs Lifespan, and Biological Age vs Chronological Age: How we live our life matters

What is our health-span verses our lifespan? We should aspire to increase the health-span of people, until that span nears the lifespan of the person. Staying healthy and active to the end is the idea. But today, many people experience ill health toward the end of their life. So, how do we increase our health-span until it nears our actual lifespan?

We know about nutrition, but we have many social influences that counter good nutrition.  Look closely at TV ads? I’ve been counting, and roughly 1/3 are for food and drink that is not good for us. Eat fruits and vegetables, nutritionists say; then we get ads for pizza, high calorie drinks, the sizzle of thick, fat meat, and the convenience of ready-made food. Society is telling us to eat for taste, and not for nutrition.

This brings me to the subject of biological age verses chronological age. We know our chronological age. I was born in 1945, which makes me 79. My brother Bill was born in 1952, making him 73 years old, chronologically. This summer we received news that Bill had passed and was discovered on a wellness check. The current life expectancy for men in the USA is 75.9 years, so Bill did not make it to that figure, and I’m over it. My biological age is less than Bill, although my chronological age is higher.

Our biological age is dependent on our lifestyle:

How we live our life matters. If we stay active, eat the right foods, keep our weight down (or up if underweight), and sleep well, we stand a better chance of exceeding that average life expectancy and living past our 80s.

By John C. Ratliff, Master of Science in Public Health, Beaverton Committee on Aging member. Learn more about BCOA at www.BeavertonLibrary.org/BCOA.