The answer to this question is being studied by Leonid A. Gavrilov and Natalia S. Gavrilova, a husband and wife research team who conduct their work as part of the NORC/University of Chicago Center on Aging.  Essentially, remaining trim (but not thin) makes the biggest difference in extreme longevity.

The two will present detailed findings at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, to be held in San Francisco from November 16 – 20.   A copy of the paper, “New Findings on Human Longevity Predictors,” is available here  (179KB). 

Annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America

San Francisco, CA

Hilton Hotel

Monday, November 19, 2007

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Room: Union Square

L.A. Gavrilov and N.S. Gavrilova
“New Findings on Human Longevity Predictors”

Media Contact:

Cathleen Savage

202-223-1635

savage-cathleen@norc.org