Can you believe that only less than 10% of people reach the age of 70 enjoying excellent cognitive, mental and physical health, without chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart and blood pressure?
This is the conclusion of a large study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2025, which followed more than 100,000 people from middle age to seventy, and found that those who lived a longer healthy aging were those who adopted a healthy eating pattern early, with regular physical activity and abstaining from smoking.
Read also
list of 2 itemsend of list
On the other hand, doctors such as Scott Brownstein warn – for Fortune – that most people live the last 10 years of their lives burdened by diseases or an exhausting lifestyle, because the focus is on the “number of years” and not on the “quality of these years.”
Essential elements for healthy aging
Parul Goyal, a geriatric specialist, explains that healthy aging is not limited to exercise and healthy eating, but is based on 3 main elements that combine to give you a more satisfied and vibrant life:
- Physical health.
- Emotional communication.
- Psychological support.
Goyal stresses not to wait until the age of sixty or seventy, and to start thinking about healthy aging early, in the thirties and forties.
Aside from numbers, what can tell you that you are aging healthily? Aging experts offer 9 practical signs:
1. You’re still learning new things
Richard Siu, director of aging research at King’s College London, told The iPaper that continuing to learn into old age helps delay cognitive decline.
As for Parul Goyal, a geriatric specialist, she likens the brain to a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. Learning a new language, playing a game, acquiring a skill, or playing a musical instrument are all simple activities that create new neural pathways and maintain the strength of your cognition as you age.
2. Have a real social circle
Supportive relationships are an essential part of healthy aging. Goyal stresses the importance of strengthening connections with family, friends, and community to combat loneliness and isolation in old age.
Lee Lindquist, head of the geriatrics department at a hospital in Chicago, also confirms that talking face to face or on the phone, and joining groups such as reading clubs, helps exercise the brain and improve its condition.
3. Express your needs clearly
If you are someone who can share their thoughts and needs with their family and friends, this is a good sign that you are aging properly.
“Often, people don’t age well because they don’t communicate their needs, perhaps because of ageism, which makes adults feel like a burden and suffers silently,” says Robyn Golden, a fellow at the Gerontological Society of America.
But she stresses the importance of adults resisting that, telling others about their needs, and being open to saying “this is me, these are my needs,” as an important part of healthy aging.
4. Do what you really enjoy
Mental health and well-being are not a secondary detail. Professor Siu points out that maintaining a good psychological state is an important component of healthy aging, while Lindquist encourages older people to engage in activities that make them happy, such as traveling, trying new recipes, playing with grandchildren, or any activity that gives them a feeling of being alive.
Golden adds that chronic boredom and the feeling that the day is too long is a “bad sign,” and that hobbies, volunteer work, and spending time with loved ones are effective ways to combat this boredom.
5. Don’t let age be a number that defines you
“Chronological age is not what matters, whether it is 65, 75 or 85, what matters is how you feel,” says Goyal.
Focusing on healthy habits, good relationships, and mental and physical health can make your later years more fulfilling, whatever your birth number. The most important thing is to start as early as possible, in your 30s and 40s, not just your 60s and 70s.
6. She has good flexibility and walks at a reasonable speed
Research published in 2024 suggests that high levels of physical flexibility may be linked to healthy longevity.
Marco Arkestein, a lecturer in sports movement mechanics and exercise, points out that “walking speed may be a good indicator of healthy aging.”
Leslie Kenny, founder of the Oxford Longevity Project, recommends exercises to strengthen your leg muscles and improve your fitness if you notice that you are slowing down more than you used to.
7. You recover quickly from stress and illness
How quickly you can recover from a strenuous workout or a minor injury can be “a powerful sign of biological resilience,” Baines says. Good response to psychological stress, low inflammation; “All of which are advantages to aging well.”
Professor Seo explains that your ability to climb the stairs or catch transportation without feeling excessively short of breath gives a direct indication of the health of your heart and lungs and your general fitness, and that introducing simple activities such as climbing the stairs into your daily routine is linked to longevity.
8. Sleep well and regularly
Studies published in 2024 link regular good sleep with successful aging in older adults who enjoy high cognitive function, good physical and psychological health, and active participation in life.
“If you fall asleep easily, stay asleep without annoying interruptions, and wake up feeling refreshed rather than tired, that’s a positive sign that you’re aging healthier,” Baines says.
9. Plan for the future instead of leaving it to surprises
Lindquist calls for thinking about the 20 years before the expected need for help.
Planning what you want to happen if you suffer a fall, are hospitalized, or have memory problems, and sharing these wishes with those you trust, eases the burden on your loved ones later, and preserves a measure of your independence and dignity when you become more vulnerable to emergency circumstances.
In the end, healthy aging is not a random fluke, but rather the result of an accumulation of small habits and decisions that often begin before we feel like we are “aging.” When we focus on the quality of years, not just their number, the previous nine signs become a practical road map for transforming later life from a stage of fear into a space of possible life.
