On the home front
And in their personal lives, residents appear to be doing better than their compatriots. They're happier (86 per cent are married or live common law, nearly double the national average), wealthier (half earn $50,000 a year or more, compared with 21.5 per cent nationally) and wiser (67 per cent have at least some postsecondary education, against 39 per cent of Canadians).
Connections
Then there are the less concrete contributors to health -- things such as reducing stress, focusing on balance and living life in the present -- that seem to proliferate in Richmond. “If you can feel good about your career, yourself, your ability to invest in your family and your community, you have balance in life,” says Hansen. He may be right. A recent American study of centenarians found that 61 per cent attributed their longevity to deep contentment with their life's achievements.
Richmond residents also seek some kind of spiritual connection -- yet another healthy habit. While religious attendance declines countrywide, it's on the rise in Vancouver (incorporating Richmond). “There's wonderful spirit in the people here,” observes Hansen. “Through the eyes of our children, they're immersed in an incredibly healthy lifestyle and community stewardship that involves family and friends. It's embedded in the people here.”
It's in that community spirit that residents lend a helping hand where needed. “Volunteers are the fabric of our community,” says Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “People extend themselves and give thousands of hours a week.”
Youthful Lois, this year's British Columbia Community Achievement Award winner, is a stellar example of this selfless spirit. “In anything I've done, I'm just one of many trying to make things better for everyone. And what other way would you want to go?”
Tips for living longer
1. Live in the moment. Constant worrying impairs the immune system.
2. Stay connected. People with strong family and social connections suffer less depression and recover from illness more quickly.
3. Make new friends. Seniors with many friends outlive those with few by 22 per cent.
4. Get in touch with your spiritual side. In one survey, 23 per cent of respondents listed spirituality as a key longevity factor.
5. Eat fresh, local fruit and vegetables where possible.
6. Eat until you're hara hachi bu (Japanese for “80 per cent full”).
7. Get involved. Volunteers have lower premature death rates and less risk for heart disease.
8. Keep active. Walk, use stairs and get moderate exercise every day.
9. Stay together as a couple. Older married men have a significantly reduced risk of dying early compared with unmarried or divorced men.
10. Don't smoke and avoid secondhand smoke.
(Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition and the Blue Zones Project)
Healthy hot spots around the world
There are four spots where people are so fit and happy, they routinely live past 100. They are:
• Sardinia, Italy;
• Okinawa, Japan;
• Loma Linda, Calif.; and
• Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.
Canada has its own health hot spots, according to Statistics Canada and the Canadian Health Network.
Other than Richmond, they include:
• Vancouver's North Shore and the South Fraser Valley, B.C. In both places, residents exercise significantly more than the average Canadian.
• North Vancouver Island. Here, 70 per cent of women are physically active in leisure time compared with just
51 per cent of Canadians in general.
• York, Ont., and North Shore, B.C. People in these two regions live a year longer than the national average.
• Charlottetown, Halifax and St. John's, Nfld. All three cities boast the highest birth weights and the lowest infant mortality rates. St John's also has the country's cleanest air.
Read more:
• Canada's top 10 female athletes
• Canada's greenest communities
• 10 foods that will help you live longer
• Healthy weight loss guide: Diet, nutrition and exercise tips
• 20 quick-to-make meals under 300 calories
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