The new Blue Zone: Study names village No. 2 in the world for female longevity

In one tiny mountain village, the rate of residents living past 100 is about 11 times the American average.We’ve heard about Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica and Ikaria in Greece as being hot spots of longevity, nicknamed Blue Zones.Experts credit wholesome diets, active lifestyles and healthy social lives as factors in why people live so long in these places.Now, we’re learning about an entirely new Blue Zone in a previously overlooked location.And while longevity is declining in traditional Blue Zones, new data shows that this small mountain town is seeing an increase in long-lived residents, especially women.Bolotana is a small village in the center of the island of Sardinia, an island to the west of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea.A region of Sardinia called Ogliastra was previously identified as a Blue Zone, though like most other Blue Zones, it’s on the coast with direct access to the water.

Bolotana sits outside this region, to the west.Researchers traveled to Bolotana and were surprised to find 10 of the 2,262 people living there were at least 100 years old — a concentration of centenarians about 10 times the Sardinian average and 11 times the US average.Women of Bolotana had an even more pronounced advantage.On average, data shows the women who reach age 70 live to be about 91, while roughly 1 in seven women who reached age 70 would live to 100.

This was higher than averages on the island and all of Italy.In fact, the numbers were even higher than a number of international populations studied earlier this year.Compared to numbers in that study, Bolotana’s women were second only to Hong Kong for life expectancy after 70 and survival to 100.Men also had a slightly higher life expectancy compared to the Sardinian and Italian average, but it was much less pronounced than women.At 70, they could expect to live to 86.

Roughly one in 20 men who reach 70 would live to 100.“What stands out to me is how well these women are surviving int...