French women live longer

CAHORS, France – For her 100th birthday party in October, Helene Vialard indulged in her favorite meal – coq au vin. She adores the local Cahors red wines, occasionally eats a sliver of foie gras, another regional specialty, and says she has no secret for reaching the century mark: “It just came on its own. I never thought I would live this long.”

The women of France, a land renowned for a cuisine laden with fats and calories, have the longest life expectancy of any nation on Earth except Japan. A baby girl born in France in 2006 can expect to live until she is at least 84, surpassing a baby boy’s potential by seven years, according to new government statistics. American women can expect a life span of 80.1 years, recent statistics show.

Some of the longest-living Frenchwomen reside in the southwest’s Midi-Pyrenees region, which is famous for its fatty foie gras – made from the livers of overfed ducks and geese – and rustic red wines. Here, where women say moderation is the key to indulging in their favorite foods, female life expectancy is a full year above the national average.

“There is a real paradox in the southwest of France,” said Jacques Vallin of the country’s National Institute for Demographic Studies, who specializes in elderly populations. “It’s one of the areas where people live the longest and where cardiovascular risks are the lowest, even though it’s the foie gras region. It contradicts people’s expectations about health and common sense.”

Life expectancy rates for men and women alike are rising across Europe, fueled by a combination of improved health care, especially for newborns and the elderly; the elimination of many diseases; and lower risks of dying from smoking, drinking and automobile accidents, according to Guy Desplanques, chief of the demographics department at France’s National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies.

But what may be good news for individuals is straining governments as they confront the rising costs of caring for populations that are rapidly aging while birthrates are slowing or diminishing.

In France, life expectancy currently is increasing at an average of three months a year. By the end of this century, French officials project, the average life span for women will be 95, and for men, 91.

Vialard, who moved from Paris to Cahors for its clean air after being diagnosed with tuberculosis at 16, belongs to one of France’s fastest-growing demographic groups: centenarians, people who are 100 or older. Last year, more than 16,000 French were at least 100, more than double the number of seven years ago. The National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies projects that by 2050, the country will have 150,000 centenarians. Now sociologists talk in terms of a new class of elderly: super-centenarians, those who’ve reached 110 years or more.

Cahors, a town of 21,000 people cradled in a bend of the Lot River, is bracing for such a future. With its reputation for a relaxing lifestyle, pleasant climate and good food, it is attracting elderly residents from other parts of France as well as neighboring countries. The area now has seven assisted-care homes for the elderly, with two more soon to be under construction.

“People are entering these homes later and later,” said Yves Panassie, 57, head of social affairs for the town government. “But when they enter, they are more handicapped.”

The town has hired 110 people to deliver meals to elderly residents who can no longer go out. Requests for these home-delivered meals have doubled in the last four years, Panassie said.

So, does the fountain of youth flow with foie gras, red wine and olive oil?

Women in the more temperate Mediterranean countries – France, Spain and Italy – tend to live longer than those in colder northern countries. The trends are also reflected within France itself: Women from southern areas where olive oil and duck fat are more prevalent in diets have longer life spans than those from northern areas, where diets include more butter, beef and pork, according to demographers.

The oldest person in modern history with an authenticated birth certificate was a Frenchwoman, Jeanne Calment, who died at 122 in 1997.

But sociologists, statisticians and doctors concede that there is no agreement on why some, like the women of Cahors, live so much longer than others. Is it genetic, nutritional, psychological or physiological?

Vialard, whose thick thatch of silvery hair, birdlike blue-gray eyes and razor-sharp mind belie a century of living, says there is no contradiction in drinking good wine, eating a bit of goose liver and remaining healthy. It’s all a matter of moderation.

“I didn’t do anything in excess in my life,” said Vialard, who lived in her own house until she fell and broke a hip two years ago and now resides in a nursing home. “I don’t have a sweet tooth,” she said. She has all but three of her original teeth. “I like fruit, I don’t like cream. I don’t like greasy food; I don’t cook with a lot of oil, even if it’s olive oil.”

Vialard and her husband, who died a dozen years ago, didn’t own a car. They walked or biked around Cahors. Her one regret, she said, is that she has outlived all her relatives. Her only child died as a baby.