100-year-olds share their secrets to a long and happy life

Those lucky enough to have made it to their hundredth birthdays have shared their secrets to living a long, healthy life. But there are plenty of factors a person can adopt to help them extend their lifespan and their healthspan – the number of healthy years lived Longevity experts who study centenarians typically focus on so-called Blue Zones, distinct parts of the world where people tend to live longer than the average Americans now live 76.4 years on average, down from 78.8 years in 2019 But, while vast majority of Americans want to live well into their old age, the unfortunate reality is that US life expectancy is lower than many peer nations at 78. Iris Apfel, a fashion icon and presidential textiles maven, said she stays young by living in the 'now' adding, 'cliche as it is, age is just a number' Ms Apfel, who become a model at 97, and has had a long career as an interior designer and businesswoman, said in February: 'My first big job in fashion came when I was 84, so to me, cliche as it is, age is just a number. A 2016 meta-analysis of 10 distinct studies involving a total of more than 136,000 people shows that having a purpose in life can lower a person's all-cause mortality risk by 17 percent. She told CNBC Make It that in finding one's 'why', they're more likely to find their community, another key tenet to living a long, healthy life.