New York, NY, Birmingham, AL, & Sassari, Italy — A new peer-reviewed paper published in The Gerontologist provides the most comprehensive scientific response to date addressing recent critiques of the so-called "blue zones," regions of the world known for unusually high concentrations of people living long, healthy lives.
In the article, "The validity of blue zones demography: a response to critiques," authors Steven N. Austad, PhD (Scientific Director, American Federation for Aging Research/AFAR and Distinguished Professor, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Giovanni M. Pes, MD (Professor of Medicine at the University of Sassari) detail decades of demographic research showing that ages in the original blue zones have been rigorously validated using the highest standards of modern gerontological demography.
The researchers bring comprehensive global expertise in aging research: Dr. Pes is a discoverer of the original blue zone in Sardinia, Italy. In addition to serving as AFAR's Scientific Director, Dr. Austad is the Co-Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Aging's Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging Coordinating Center; his trade book, Why We Age (1997, 1999), has been translated into eight languages.
"Extraordinary claims about longevity demand extraordinary evidence," said Dr. Austad. "What we show in this paper is that the original blue zones meet — and often exceed — the strict validation criteria used worldwide to confirm exceptional human longevity."
Published on December 17, 2025, in The Gerontologist, a leading peer-reviewed journal of the Gerontological Society of America, the article is open access and available online here.
Addressing Recent Critiques
In recent years, some commentators outside the field of demographic gerontology have questioned whether reported ages in blue zones reflect errors, fraud, or poor record-keeping. Austad and Pes explain that such skepticism, while healthy in principle, often overlooks a century and a half of methodological advances designed specifically to detect and eliminate false age claims.
The authors outline how blue zones research relies on multiple independent documentary sources, including civil birth and death records, church archives, genealogical reconstruction, military and electoral registries, and in-person interviews. Cases that cannot be conclusively validated are systematically excluded.
"These methods were developed precisely because age exaggeration has been common throughout history," said Dr. Pes. "Blue zones are not based on self-report. They are based on painstaking cross-checking of records, often going back more than a century."
Four blue zones, independently validated
The paper reviews age-validation procedures in the four original and most widely studied blue zones:
- Sardinia, Italy
- Okinawa, Japan
- Ikaria, Greece
- Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Each region was shown to have an unusually high probability of survival to age 90 and beyond, confirmed through independent demographic systems and archival records. Importantly, the authors emphasize that blue zones were never defined by a handful of extreme outliers, but by population-level survival patterns that are statistically robust.
Blue zones are Not Static — and That Matters
The authors also note that blue zones are not permanent. Modernization, migration, and lifestyle changes can weaken or erase once-exceptional longevity patterns, as seen in Okinawa and parts of Nicoya. Conversely, new candidate blue zones have begun to emerge elsewhere in the world, underscoring the importance of continuous validation.
"The fact that blue zones can appear and disappear actually strengthens their scientific value," said Austad. "It allows researchers to study how social, cultural, and lifestyle factors influence healthy aging over time."
These global trends in longevity deceleration, and their implications for valuable public health interventions to extend healthspan, will be explored in forthcoming research co-authored by Austad and Pes with renowned biodemographer and gerontologist S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, to be published in 2026.
Implications for Global Health and Aging Research
By reaffirming the validity of blue zones demography, the authors argue that these regions remain among the most valuable natural laboratories for understanding healthy aging. While genetics may play a role, evidence increasingly points toward lifestyle, diet, physical activity, and social connection as central contributors to long life with low rates of chronic disease.
Beyond blue zones, long-lived individuals are inspiring a range of research studies. The AFAR SuperAgers Family Study at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, for example, aims to identify inherited and natural factors that slow aging and protect against age related disease by comparing traits in people aged 95+ across the United States and their adult children to traits in older adults whose parents were not SuperAgers; the data from this study will be used to create a large biorepository for future research about healthy aging.
Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow and creator of the worldwide blue zones concept, notes: "At a time when populations around the world are aging rapidly, it is essential that public discussion and promising interventions be grounded in sound science. Blue zones continue to offer real, validated insights into how we all can live healthier, longer. As Americans are making resolutions for the New Year, the lessons from the world's longest-lived people might offer sound strategy for a healthier 2026."
