SOFT NEWS – The village of longevity: The secret of the women who live to… 100!

SASSARI, 8 October /ATSH-ANSA/ – A small village in the heart of Sardinia, with just over 2,000 inhabitants, may be the new record zone for women’s longevity. It is Bolotana, where women who reach the age of 70 have a significantly higher probability of living to 100, compared with the rest of Italy. This is shown by an international study, in which the University of Sassari and the University of Illinois Chicago also took part, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Aging.

Sardinia has for at least two decades been at the centre of attention of researchers dealing with longevity. Around 15 municipalities in the Barbagia and Ogliastra areas are included in the so-called “Blue Zones”, territories where particularly high levels of longevity are recorded. Now, according to the researchers, Bolotana may also join this map.

An unusual concentration of centenarians

Researchers had long noticed the unusual number of people reaching the age of 100 in this community. In 2024, six centenarians lived in Bolotana. To understand whether this was a special case, the research team analysed data from civil-status registers and parish registers. The researchers reconstructed the community’s demographic history for more than a century.

The results showed that average life expectancy in Bolotana is higher than in the rest of Italy. But what stands out in particular is women’s longevity. Women who reach the age of 70 in Bolotana have a life expectancy of almost 21 more years, about two years more than women in the rest of Italy. But the difference becomes even greater when looking at the chance of reaching the age of 100.

According to the study, a 70-year-old woman in Bolotana has a 13.8% probability of turning 100. In the rest of Italy this percentage is around 3.5%. That means the probability is almost four times higher, while the researchers describe it in general terms as around three times higher, depending on the statistical comparison used. The values are also slightly higher than those recorded in other Sardinian municipalities already considered part of the “Blue Zone”.

After Hong Kong in the longevity ranking?

According to the researchers’ estimates, these data would place the women of Bolotana at the highest levels of female longevity in the world, immediately after the women of Hong Kong. “We think this is the longest-lived female population in the world, or almost,” one of the study’s authors, S. Jay Olshansky, declared in a note.

However, the researchers remain cautious. They want to verify whether the phenomenon is a stable characteristic of the population or may be the result of a statistical fluctuation of recent years.

What is the secret of longevity?

Researchers are already trying to identify the factors that could explain this advantage of the women of Bolotana. One of the main factors may be genetics, but it does not seem to be the only reason. Also on the list is physical activity, especially the daily walking on the village streets. Another element is the traditional diet, relatively simple and based mainly on plant products grown in the area.

The community’s social structure may also play an important role. In Bolotana, ties between residents remain strong and social isolation is much less present, a factor that has also been linked in other studies to health and longevity.

According to the researchers, precisely the combination of genetics, physical activity, traditional nutrition and a strong community may be part of the explanation. If these characteristics are confirmed by further research, they may also offer lessons for other communities in the world.

“If we can identify the characteristics behind this longevity and help people adopt them, the rest of the world can also benefit from understanding the values practised by these communities,” Olshansky concludes.