Children of centenarians may stay healthier and live longer too, study finds
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- Reviewed by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Living to 100 seems to run in families. But could having at least one centenarian parent improve your own chances of a longer, healthier old age? A study published online Aug. 26, 2026, by JAMA Network Open suggests it may.
Researchers analyzed health and longevity data drawn from three long-term studies: the LonGenity Study and the New England Centenarian Study in the United States, and the British-based UK Biobank Study. Together, these studies followed participants for 16 to 29 years. All three studies were analyzed the same way to see whether the results held up consistently.
The researchers compared 2,319 adult children of centenarians with 1,711 people whose parents died at age 85 or younger. Children of centenarians had a 42% lower risk of dying at any given age, and they lived about three years longer, on average. They also had a 33% lower risk of heart disease and a 32% lower risk of high blood pressure, which tended to develop roughly five years later than in people whose parents had shorter life spans.
These advantages held up even after researchers accounted for lifestyle factors like smoking, diet, exercise, alcohol use, and education. Having a long-lived parent was not linked to a lower risk of cancer, however.
An important note: For some of the analyses, only the high blood pressure findings remained statistically significant, while the links to longer life and lower heart disease risk fell just short. The results should therefore be interpreted with caution. But the findings are consistent with similar studies — and, perhaps, a helpful step in discovering what drives healthy aging.
Of course, following a healthy lifestyle is still your best way to improve your odds of a long, healthy life — “good genes” or not.
Image: © FatCamera/Getty Images
About the Author
Joyce Hendley, Staff Writer
About the Reviewer
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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