From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Thu Jun 17 1999 - 12:36:32 MDT
At 10:32 AM 6/17/99 -0700, Robin Hanson wrote:
>The nation's centenarian population is quickly approaching
>70,000, up from some 28,000 in 1990, according to a Census Bureau
>report released yesterday. Four-fifths of the members of the
>venerable 100+ group are female, and largely concentrated in the
>Midwest's "longevity belt" -- Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska,
>Kansas and Minnesota. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/17
This is interesting, in that 1) these areas have an unusually homogenous
population for the U.S., and 2) the average diet in this region is
definitely not conducive to longevity per current research.
The populations in this region are to a great extent Eastern European
(Czech, Hungarian, etc.), with small pockets of Scandinavians. The
populations in these areas also tend to be highly inbred (I've lived in the
areas in question). It makes me wonder if unusual longevity is normal in
the eastern European regions where these Midwesterners have there genetic
roots. IIRC, the longest lived peoples in the world are found in the far
eastern parts of europe.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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