Evelyn Mack has a pretty busy life. Twice a week she goes to exercise classes — one aerobic, and the other for muscle development — after which she has lunch with a friend or two.
She plays board games, goes to the movies and has a glass of white wine with her dinner, which she describes as being “fairly regular food, nothing heavy”. Evelyn is 92-and-a-half years old, and she’s ticking along just fine.
“I feel okay, especially mentally. Physically I’m not as good as I once was. My balance is not as good, especially when I’m walking outside, but overall I can still go out to lunches, I have friends, and I live a reasonable life.”
While she credits her long life largely to luck and genetics — “I don’t have any terminal diseases, haven’t been in any car accidents, and my parents and maternal grandmother both lived into their 80s” — a life spent playing sports, socialising, drinking and eating in moderation has no doubt also contributed.
“I did smoke for a while in my 30s after I was done having babies [she has four sons and one daughter], but stopped when I saw none of my colleagues smoked,” Evelyn admits.
That was more than 40 years ago. She worked as a high school and primary school teacher until she was 60. After which she retired and travelled with her husband, who was 11 years older. He has since passed away, but Evelyn speaks of him fondly.
“I’ve had a lucky life, a very good husband, my children are really good to me, my grandkids are lovely, and I have friends — what more do I need?”
Why Australia leads in life expectancy and longevity
While Evelyn is a rarity — only about 3 per cent of Australians live to be 85 years or older — the proportion of people in that age range is expected to rise between 3.6 per cent to 4.4 per cent in 2066, according to government data.
This speaks to a wider trend in Australia. When it comes to other Anglo countries (as well as other developed nations such as Japan, Singapore and Scandinavia), we’re placed at the top when it comes to life longevity.
Two recent studies — one Australian and one American — found that Australians between the ages of 45 and 84, in particular, experience lower mortality rates than their peers. This difference is especially pronounced in the US, where life expectancy is far lower than other high-income countries.
“In our study, we compared Australians to people in other English-speaking countries, and we found that Australians have lower death rates at nearly all ages compared to their peers, with the exception of Ireland, where younger Irish men and women are doing better than their same-aged counterparts in Australia,” says Associate Professor of Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State University, Jessica Ho.
“In the course of this research, we discovered that Anglophone countries tend to share a lot of important features. They tend to have higher death rates at the young and middle adult ages, and several [including the US] are experiencing severe drug overdose epidemics. These findings motivated me to take a closer look at the similarities and differences in life expectancy across Anglophone countries.”
Older Australians, Jessica says, experience lower mortality rates from screenable and treatable cancers, cardiovascular disease, influenza, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases compared with other countries.
It’s something she attributes to our strong public health efforts, healthcare system and lower levels of smoking.
The challenges facing youth
Young Australians are also doing better than their Anglo counterparts (except Ireland). They experience fewer car accidents, and gun, drug, and alcohol-related death rates.
But, the picture here is not all rosy. When a global health researcher from the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor Timothy Adair, recently compared life expectancy between English-speaking countries against 14 other high-income countries, he found that Australians aged below 50 had higher rates of death from alcohol and drug overdoses, as well as suicide.
“We’re also not doing well in cardiovascular disease mortality related to obesity,” he says. An umbrella term for conditions that affect your heart or blood vessels, cardiovascular disease includes coronary heart disease (blocked arteries) along with heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
It’s Australia’s — and the world’s — number one killer, accounting for the death of one in every four Australians.
The University of Sydney’s Professor of Medicine and Nutrition, Luigi Fontana is not surprised by the findings. He says that technological and medical advances in rich countries over the past half-century have enabled people to live much longer lives.
Diseases such as leukaemia and other cancers once considered death sentences, are now treatable with various new drugs and therapies.
“When I graduated in 1994, if you had a stroke, you were in big trouble: Now, if you’re living in Sydney next to a major hospital, you can get thrombolysis [a clot-busting drug which rapidly dissolves blood clots in the brain] which minimises the impact,” he says.
Luigi adds that other life-saving treatments, such as bypass surgery and technology to open arteries, have always hugely impacted the longevity of Australians.
“It helps that Australia is a wealthier country compared to the UK, with fewer people and more resources,” he says.
“We have less pollution, better weather, and a better environment compared to many other similar countries. They all count towards a longer, better life.”
However, Luigi fears these gains may be reversing for younger Australians, who he says will suffer far more health problems due to increased obesity.
“Things are getting worse,” he says. “Already 26 per cent of children and teenagers in Australia are overweight or obese, and for people aged 25 to 34, we are sitting at 57.7 per cent.”
Things are worse for men aged 45 to 54. Of this group, he says nearly 83 per cent are overweight or obese (women in that age range come in at 55 per cent).
“We’re now starting to experience the consequences of childhood obesity, something not common in older Australians growing up. Forty years ago, people were lean – obesity was not an issue in Australia.”
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures put obesity or being overweight as the second leading risk factor (after tobacco use) for many preventable chronic conditions such as heart disease, some cancers and type 2 diabetes. Australia also has the 10th highest proportion of overweight or obese people aged 15 or older among 21 OECD nations.
“Most Australians are in a prediabetes state — there’s no way public funding can cope with the tsunami of chronic diseases coming,” Luigi warns. “Add stress, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, bad food and no exercise, and you have the perfect storm.”
Timothy agrees and says the mental health crisis bears out in data. “We have slightly higher rates of suicide, which is related to poor mental health and depression, which affects people’s ability to work and participate in society,” he says.
We’re also starting to see the impacts of childhood obesity filter through to Australians in their 30s and 40s, who are increasingly suffering cardiovascular diseases, he adds.
“These are issues commonly found in other English-speaking countries, but less so in high-income regions such as Japan and Scandinavia,” he says.
Public health policies save lives
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Australia’s tough stance on cigarette smoking began in the 1970s and includes smoking bans around playgrounds, entrances to public buildings, train platforms, taxi ranks, bus stops, beaches and even prisons.
As well as a host of other measures such as anti-tobacco advertisements, a ban on tobacco ads, the introduction of mandatory plain packaging and big fines have also increasingly driven down smoking rates and had a large impact on mortality, Timothy says.
The government is now using similar tactics to control vaping, including making it illegal to sell and buy vapes at any retailer other than a pharmacy.
Air quality in Australian cities is also generally classified as “good” compared to similar developed economies, although it depends on where you live and which pollutant is being measured, owing somewhat to our small population and large country.
“[While] we can’t ignore behavioural factors around smoking, diet and exercise, which are often related to the environment people live in – it can be quite challenging to be active in many parts of Australia simply because of the way the environment is set up. Overall, Australia has one of the highest life expectancies in the world,” Timothy points out. “We should not ignore this and be grateful for it.”
As for Evelyn, her advice for living a longer life is simple: Be active, eat what you want – but in moderation – laugh a lot and try not to worry too much.
“I don’t deprive myself of things, I never have – I still have a glass of white wine with dinner every night, and it’s great,” she laughs.
How to stay alive longer
If you want to blow out more candles on birthday cakes, experts are unanimous in their advice.
Stay active: Regular physical activity, like exercise classes, walking or sports helps maintain physical health and balance.
Eat (and drink) in moderation: Enjoy a balanced diet and avoid overindulging in heavy or unhealthy foods.
Maintain social connections: Spend time with friends and family, engage in social activities and nurture relationships for mental wellbeing.
Avoid smoking & vaping: Quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of chronic disease and improves life expectancy.
Prioritise preventative healthcare: Get regular check-ups and screenings to catch treatable diseases like cancers or cardiovascular conditions early.
Stay mentally active: Engage in activities like board games, puzzles and hobbies to keep your mind sharp.
Embrace a positive attitude: Laugh often, try not to worry excessively and focus on gratitude for the good things in life.
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