Japan has become one of the longest-living countries in the world. The “average life expectancy” announced in 2023 will be 87.09 years for women and 81.05 years for men. Women will be the world’s number one. Men will be a little lower, perhaps in third place. Meanwhile, the healthy life expectancy will be 75.38 years for women and 72.68 years for men (announced in 2019). This healthy life expectancy is the period during which one can live an independent life, as defined by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The difference between “average life expectancy” and “healthy life expectancy” is about 12 years for women and about 8 years for men. We thought about how to live happily between this “average life expectancy” and “healthy life expectancy”.
A survey of people aged 65 and over was conducted in Hirosaki City, where the average life expectancy is short, and Kyotango City, where the average life expectancy is long. In this survey, items such as the height, weight, genes, diet, and lifestyle of approximately 700 elderly people were examined. What we found was that people who live longer tend to have more conversations with friends and social involvement. There are three factors related to longevity: “exercise,” “diet (nutrition),” and “social participation.” Among these, social participation is the most important. Mortality rates are lower than those who only pay attention to “exercise” and “diet.” When people participate in society and talk, their brains are inevitably trained. When talking, they use their brains to understand what the other person is saying and then organize their own thoughts. Being able to keep up the back-and-forth of conversation well also keeps the brain in use and keeps you young. In the second half of their lives, single seniors seem to need an environment and system that allows them to naturally engage in activities such as “exercise,” “diet,” and “social participation (communication).”
In Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, they do something called Momorin Exercise. Seniors who participate in this are maintaining their health. Here, they seem to provide a place that they can do exercises and have fun talking afterwards. Fun and joy lead to a positive attitude. Children who express a lot of positive emotions such as joy are well adapted to learning and friendships in the classroom. In the same way, seniors who have positive emotions are trusted and accepted by their peers. Seniors who express a lot of negative emotions such as anger have low adaptation. Groups that express a lot of positive emotions showed higher adaptation among seniors overall. Efforts are needed to improve an individual’s positive attitude from a collective perspective. In this sense, senior hobbies and volunteer activities with peers appear to be important health promotion activities.
