Blue Zones

As human beings we can not stop aging. It is in our genes to be born, live a long life, and die when we reach old age. However, there are a group of regions that have been reported to have the longest-lived people. In 2004, Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic and hired the world’s best longevity researchers to identify pockets around the world where people lived measurably better. They found five regions known as “Blue Zones”, places where people reach ages over 100. The people inhabiting the Blue Zones share common lifestyle characteristics that contribute to their longevity. These characteristics were called the “Power 9 Principles” and included diet, physical fitness, mental health, and social and environmental factors. For my service project, I focus on my 80 year old grandmother who does not move around as much because of a bad knee. Because of old age, my grandmother’s knee is becoming harder and more painful to walk on. She spends most of her days sitting watching TV or sitting at the kitchen table preparing food and spend little time outside with her friends. My grandmother never walks more than 10 minutes. She is very slow and has to take multiple breaks from walking. She explains that too much walking hurts her knee and that is not as flexible

However, she gradually increase the amount of time of walking and decrease the amount of time on break. She could not walk the whole entire path in one session but, she was determined to keep me longer and decided to cut her breaks even shorter. For the last couple of sessions, my grandmother and I notice that her walking time improve well over 10 minutes and her knee did not hurt as much. I also notice how much happier she seem to be. Each session she seemed more energetic and excited than the last. My grandmother continues to walk by herself or with friends and practice to be more active in her