A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to describe the lifestyle of people ≥90 years, living in Evdilos or Raches, two municipalities of the Greek island of Ikaria, classified a longevity blue zone. The 71 participants were interviewed and underwent the Mediterranean Islands study food frequency questionnaire (MEDIS-FFQ) and the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ). The frequency of social contacts was daily for 77.9% of participants, weekly for 16.1%, and monthly for 5.9%. Most participants (90.0%) believed in God, and 81.4% took part in religious events. A total of 62.0% attended Panigiria festivals. Access to primary health care was considered difficult in the past for 66.2% of participants, while 22.1% felt that it remained difficult at the time of the survey. The level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was 62.7% (61.6% in women and 64.0% in men). Physical activity levels were moderate or high for 71.8% of participants (59.5% of women and 85.3% of men). In conclusion, the participants had a very high level of family solidarity, social interaction and physical activity. The results concerning the Mediterranean diet are less convincing. It would be interesting to study the impact of these factors on the longevity of the oldest old aged people living in Ikaria.

<!--BeginNoIndex--> Abstract <!--EndNoIndex--> <!--BeginNoIndex--> English <!--EndNoIndex--> Since their origins in seventeenth-century Sweden, population registers have been kept at local level, and computerization has now made it possible to establish national registers in most of the 30 European countries analysed in this article. As a result of these registers, the production of demographic statistics has entered a new era, with many advantages but also ethical controversies. New questions arise, such as the definition of residents, double counting and data confidentiality. This article describes and compares the operational principles of central registers in various countries, and how individual data are extracted in order to produce demographic statistics. It is now possible to regularly monitor the individual demographic trajectories of the entire population at national level, and to reveal interactions between the demographic behaviours of individuals in a single household. Given the many opportunities afforded by longitudinal analysis, support from researchers would be particularly beneficial, and efforts must be made to facilitate access to individual data. Keywords population register Europe demographic statistics demographic analysis event history analysis

Usually women live longer than men and female centenarians largely outnumber male centenarians. The findings of previous studies identifying a population with a femininity ratio close to 1.0 among centenarians in the mountainous region of Sardinia was the starting point of an in-depth investigation in order to compare mortality trajectories between men and women in that population. The exceptional survival of men compared to women emerges from the comparison with similar Italian data. Age exaggeration for men has been strictly excluded as a result of the age validation procedure. The discussion suggests that besides biological/genetic factors, the behavioral factors including life style, demographic behavior, family support, and community characteristics may play an important role. No single explanation is likely to account for such an exceptional situation and a fully integrated multidisciplinary approach is urgently needed.

Health and longevity in humans are influenced by numerous factors, including lifestyle and nutrition. However, the direct relationship between lifetime eating habits and functional capacity of the elderly is poorly understood. This study investigated the dietary changes across nutrition transition (NT) in the early 1960s, in a population located in the Sardinia island known for its longevity, dubbed as “Longevity Blue Zone” (LBZ), as well as the relationship between the dietary patterns and a panel of health indicators. A total of 150 oldest-old participants (89 women and 61 men, age range 90–101 years) living in the LBZ were recruited. Participants were interviewed using validated questionnaires to assess the consumption frequency of common food items, as well as the correlation with self-rated health, comorbidity, affective and cognitive level, physical mobility, disability and anthropometric parameters. Differences between subgroups were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples or the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples. Correlation analysis was performed by calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient, separately in males and females. Compared to the pre-NT epoch, the consumption of meat, olive oil and fresh fruit slightly increased, while the consumption of lard, legumes and vegetables decreased. A significant association was found between increased olive oil intake across NT and self-rated health (ρ = 0.519), mobility (ρ = 0.502), improved vision (ρ = −0.227) and hearing (ρ = −0.314); increased chicken meat intake and performance in activities of daily living (basic activities of daily living: ρ = 0.351; instrumental activities of daily living: ρ = 0.333). Instead, vegetable consumption showed low correlation with health indicators. A mild increase in meat intake, mostly pastured poultry, is associated with better physical performance in the Sardinian LBZ elders, suggesting that a supply of protein may have been crucial to maintaining adequate functional capacity.