Although no prediction is set in stone, it is possible to estimate your life span based on certain genetic, demographic, and lifestyle factors. Each factor – and the amount of years it adds or subtracts from your baseline life expectancy – is documented by hundreds of medical studies.
To find out what your life expectancy is, click here. The longevity quiz takes less than 5 minutes.This is similar to another online quiz mentioned in a Wellness Wednesday newsletter last summer – “Living to 100“, which many of you found both enjoyable and informative.
While it is fun to try and estimate how long you may live, to me the real message is understanding what the key longevity factors are and how much of an impact they have on your life span. The two web sites mentioned are fairly consistent in identifying what those key factors are, things like smoking, nutrition, exercise, sleep, family medical history, and social habits. There’s probably not too many surprises in that list (flossing is on both lists, and it always surprises me how important it is to your overall health), but it’s always helpful to be reminded of these things on occasion and what impact they have on your health, wellness, and longevity.
If you’re curious, the first quiz predicted my life span to be 97, and the “Living to 100″ quiz estimated it to be 93. While there’s a few things I can work on (flossing…), hitting my goal of living to 100 could be a stretch, at least according to these online tools.
If you take the quiz, I’d love to know what your predicted age is, so feel free to reply via email (jamesborden@fitnesstogether.com), this blog post, or through my Facebook page.
May you live long and prosper!
