There are regions where an atypically large number of people enjoy a much longer lifespan than elsewhere on the planet. In these so-called Blue Zones—such as Ogliastra in Italy, Ikaria in Greece, Okinawa in Japan, and Martinique—the population tends to eat healthy, stay physically active, engage with a community, and live with a sense of purpose. (Why are we surprised they live longer, again?).
An international team of researchers has investigated how these Blue Zone lifestyle principles apply in four Western Finland regions—Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, Finnish-speaking Ostrobothnia, Swedish-speaking Åland, and Finnish-speaking South Ostrobothnia. The new research highlights a potential new Blue Zone but also more broadly reveals that longevity in Nordic regions isn’t necessarily associated with the Blue Zone lifestyle.
“The potential coherence between longevity, health and lifestyle may vary in different cultural, political, social and economic contexts,” the researchers wrote in a study published last month in the Journal of Aging Research. “The present study aims to examine if adherence to Blue Zone lifestyle principles and good health is highest in the most longevous region.”
Blue Zone principles don’t always apply
By analyzing survey data from the Gerontological Regional Database from 2021 and 2022, the researchers found that Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia hits most of the Blue Zone checkmarks with its population’s long life expectancy, good health, and Blue Zone lifestyle. Interestingly, Åland does not meet all the Blue Zone lifestyle principles and yet is Finland’s most longevous region. It scored higher in environmental agreeableness and had the healthiest population among the regions studied.
On the other hand, South Ostrobothnia, along with Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia, most closely followed the Blue Zone lifestyle, and yet had the poorest health and lowest life expectancy of the studied regions. Finnish-speaking Ostrobothnia demonstrated the fewest Blue Zone lifestyle principles.
The study doesn’t pinpoint clear reasons for the regional differences in how longevity, health, and lifestyle are connected. But it shows that Blue Zone principles don’t strictly define Finland’s most longevous region—though the country may still host a newly described Blue Zone in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia.
However, “we require additional demographic studies to verify the extraordinary life expectancy in Ostrobothnia, especially among the Swedish-speaking community,” Sarah Åkerman, co-author of the study and principal investigator of Åbo Akademi University’s Blue Zones in the Nordics project, said in a university statement.
Long healthspan is the goal
Åkerman and her colleagues also point out that longevity doesn’t necessarily mean good health or a healthy lifestyle. We’ve all heard about the friend-of-a-friend’s 98-year-old grandmother who’s been smoking 15 cigarettes a day for seven decades. My own grandmother is 94 years old, rarely leaves her armchair, and drinks a hefty glass of red wine with almost all of her meals (she claims her doctor prescribes it, but we’re obviously skeptical).
If you’re hoping for a long life, however, I think it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t bank on being like these grandmas. Plus, people have become increasingly interested in more than just long lives—the new holy grail now is long healthspans.