Today’s 100-Year-Olds Say They Don’t “Feel Old”

As Older Americans Month wraps up, we want to share recent data released on some of the nation’s oldest seniors – centenarians. You might be surprised to learn more than half (60 percent) of 100-year-olds say they don’t “feel old.”

This statistics come from UnitedHealthcare’s 100@100 survey, which polls 100 centenarians every year to reveal their insights on healthy aging, family, spirituality, positivity and more. In honor of the survey’s 10^th anniversary this year, UnitedHealthcare also polled 100 10-year-olds, which revealed fun, new comparisons between the perspectives of younger and older Americans.

Some key findings include:

• Centenarians who do feel old say they did not start feeling that way until they were 87, on average. Meantime, 10-year-olds say people start to get old at 46!

• On average, 100-year-olds say they felt:
  • The most attractive at age 31
  • The most energetic at age 34
  • The most happy at age 44
  • The most healthy at age 46
  • The most wise at age 49
  • The most content at age 56

• Keeping a positive attitude is the most important factor in staying healthy, according to a quarter of the centenarians surveyed. The next most popular answers are eating healthy (21 percent), exercising regularly (10 percent), and keeping busy (9 percent).
• Almost half of centenarians (46 percent) and 35 percent of 10-year-olds stay active by walking or hiking at least once a week. Centenarians also cite meditation or other stress-relieving activities (29 percent), indoor cardiovascular exercises (24 percent) and exercises such as lifting weights (34 percent) as activities they do once a week.

You can access the press release and read more about the survey at UHC.com/100, where you’ll also find a fun embeddable video of 100-year-olds and 10-year-olds talking about the survey’s themes.