Tuesday, November 08, 2011

100 Centenarians Surveyed



For the past 6 years, UnitedHealthcare has conducted a survey of 100 centenarians. Here are the results of this year's survey:
100@100 Survey

It's just anecdotal. And since the survey was conducted over the phone, only "healthy and articulate Americans in this age range" could participate. About half had a high school degree or less and 88% were white.

Here are a few responses. There are more on the link.

I'd love to know what they thought a healthy diet was:



Immortality occurs in one's 20s:



I wonder if this was an open-ended question or if they named names. That 0% answer leads me to think they named names:



What is the one innovation you will you tell UnitedHealthcare when you reach 100 and they interview you? (I have to say the internet.)


________

8 comments:

RB said...

Seems ironic that UHC would care about habits and life styles of those that reach 100 since UHC doesn't general cover life style and preventative care counseling. So how would UHC use these finding to set policies? Now, UHC pays for a doctor to prescribe lipitor but not for time to consul his patient to improve his diet by eating more veggies and less meat.

BTW, I just finished watching "Forks over Knifes" which shows physicians actually prescribing a plant based diet for their patients with heart disease and diabetes with great results. A doctor actually show a patient how to grocery shop. Pretty amazing. I don't this is is covered by UHC.

Bix said...

This is a sticky issue, RB. I know some physicians recommend eating a low-carb, meat-rich diet. Others recommend curbing meat consumption.

What to eat has become so political. I don't mean "political" in a government way, although you could make that case. I mean it to describe competition between competing interests for power, not for, in this case, health.

Should docs advise on diet? Or should they keep quiet?

caulfieldkid said...

I think docs should talk about diet. Advise? That's a good question.

I'm not even sure how well versed the average doctor is on diet. Probably not as well as you would like. But shouldn't that at least be able to give some general guidance and point me in the direction of some resources?

Now that I'm thinking this through more, maybe not. I'm for discussion. How about that? I think doctors should have a dialogue with their patients instead of just trying to diagnose problems.

Angela and Melinda said...

"Immortality occurs in one's 20s"!!! Hee!

Bix said...

You don't miss a thing.

I don't mean to disparage. I reveled in the bloom of everlasting life myself once.

Angela and Melinda said...

I know, Bix. Death didn't start to get truly real to me till I turned 60. That's kind of a frightening number, as you know that no matter how long you live, there's less ahead than behind. Still, my life has been good. I love life!

Bix said...

Yes, it comes across, that you love life. :)

Bix said...

Wait, I just thought of another answer to that last question, What is the one innovation that had the greatest positive impact on the way you lived your life?

Self-defrosting refrigerators. I can't go back.