GabyRecently, Dr. Newman from the UCL Longitudinal Studies Centre received the first in history. Ig Nobel Prize From demography. As stated in the award document, the scholar received this prize for his “detective work” in uncovering that many of the oldest people in the world lived in places where birth and death records were poorly maintained.
According to the scientist’s conclusions, the data on supercentenarians (People aged 110 and older) may be the result of poor record-keeping, clerical errors, and pension fraud. Therefore, the researcher believes that there are no “blue zones” where the number of centenarians is higher than the average level.
The 34th Ig Nobel Prize ceremony took place on September 12, 2024, at the University of Massachusetts (USA). Since 1991, the Ig Nobel Prize, or the Anti-Nobel Prize, has been awarded annually to authors of witty and extraordinary discoveries that first make you laugh and then make you think.
Where did the doubts about the “blue zones” come from?
Dr. Newman’s discovery dealt a significant blow to the fashionable theory of “blue zones,” which is likely mostly “pulled out of thin air.” For decades, researchers have claimed that there are miracle locations on Earth where an extraordinarily high number of very elderly people live. Examples of blue zones include Loma Linda in California, Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Nicoya in Costa Rica, and Ikaria in Greece.
The idea that there are places with exceptional lifespan gained significant popularity, the publication reported. IFLScience Many people were curious why people in these areas live extraordinarily long lives.
However, Dr. Newman concluded that the answer is not so much related to any specific lifestyle as it is to questionable data.
In his new study, the scientist found that the highest rates of reaching old age are determined by three factors: a high level of poverty, a lack of birth certificates, and a smaller number of 90-year-olds.
This work has even called into question the supposedly verified cases of the existence of the oldest people in the world: in particular, the oldest man in the world, who apparently has three different birth dates.
According to Sol Justin Newman, “recently significant errors have been found in every ‘blue zone’.”
“In 1997, over 30,000 deceased Italian citizens ‘claimed’ pensions. In 2008, 42 percent of 99-year-old residents of Costa Rica incorrectly reported their age in the 2000 census. After partially correcting the errors, the ‘blue zone’ of Nicoya shrank by 90 percent, and life expectancy sharply dropped to nearly the lowest level,” noted Dr. Newman.
In 2010, over 230,000 Japanese centenarians were reported missing due to clerical errors or were actually deceased.
Even the analysis of the presumed causes of extreme longevity turned out to be quite suspicious. For example, a diet of vegetables and sweet potatoes was identified as a potential key to the long life of Okinawa residents. However, the Japanese government stated that the inhabitants of this “blue zone” consume the least amount of vegetables and sweet potatoes in the country. Additionally, they have the highest body mass index.
Previously, Dr. Newman debunked other theories regarding extreme age.
