Longevity facts for kids
Longevity means living a very long time, or having a long life expectancy. It's about how long someone or something can last, often longer than people expect. People who study longevity look for ways to make life longer. It's a topic that scientists, doctors, and even writers of science fiction books think about a lot.
Stories of Long Life
For a very long time, people have told stories about humans living for an incredibly long time. These stories sometimes include ideas about staying young forever. These tales often come from old traditions and beliefs.
Stories about people living for hundreds or even thousands of years have been around since the first civilizations. Sometimes, these stories tried to connect humans to gods or to God, suggesting that a long life was a special gift. In some religious traditions, people believed that following certain rules or practices could make you immortal or help you live to a very old age.
You might have heard of the Fountain of Youth. This is a famous story about a special natural place or substance that could heal people and make them live longer and stay young. Some stories also suggest that certain places on Earth, not just a magical fountain, could help people live to an extreme age if they moved there.
Future Life Expectancy
Experts often make predictions about how long people will live in the future. For example, the United States Census Bureau thinks that by 2050, the average life expectancy in the United States will be in the mid-80s. This is up from about 78 years in 2006. They believe it could eventually reach the early 90s. This is unless big scientific discoveries happen that change how humans age. Right now, doctors mostly treat the problems that come with aging, rather than stopping aging itself.
The Census Bureau also predicted that by 2100, the United States could have 5.3 million people who are over 100 years old. The United Nations (UN) has also made predictions far into the future, up to the year 2300. They project that in most developed countries, people could live to be between 100 and 106 years old. They expect life expectancy to keep rising, but more slowly than before. However, the UN warns that these predictions are not certain. They say that any new medical technology or discovery could change their projections.
Related Information
Images for kids
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An elderly couple in Portugal.
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This chart shows how many extra years a 20-year-old in the U.S. might gain by changing from a typical diet to a healthier, "optimized diet."
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See also
In Spanish: Longevidad para niños
