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Blue Zone: Extending length and quality of life Diane Hoover and Cort Cox, who say simple tasks like walking can improve longevity, are helping to lead the Blue Zones Project in Grants Pass. [Mail Tribune / Andy Atkinson] Monday Jan 22, 2018 at 9:14 AM Jan 22, 2018 at 11:44 AM By Tammy Asnicar for the Mail tribune Living an active, fulfilling life well into our 90s and possibly even our 100s may be easier than we think, says longevity expert Dan Buettner. While a staff writer with National Geographic, Buettner interviewed and profiled some of the world’s longest-living individuals in what he has dubbed “the blue zones.” In these communities, he discovered there were common denominators that added up to not only quantity of life, but quality of life as well. He found nine commonalities centered on fitness, food, faith, family and friends. And, not only were individuals thriving, so were the communities in which they lived. After publishing his New York Times bestseller “The Blue Zones — 9 Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest,” in 2008, Buettner launched a major public health initiative. Now known as the “Blue Zones Project,” cities across the nation are being transformed based on the secrets Buettner gleaned from people in Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, Calif.; Nicoya, Costa Rico; Okinawa, Japan; and Ikaria, Greece. Grants Pass kicked off its Blue Zones Project Saturday with an event at Grants Pass High School, inviting community members to take the pledge to “live longer and better.” Nick Buettner, who traveled the globe with his older brother and witnessed first-hand the cultural practices that fostered healthier, happier, longer lives, was the keynote speaker Saturday. The younger Buettner serves as the community program director for the national Blue Zones Project. He said in a recent telephone interview, “no one wakes up one day and decides they’re going to live to 100. ... In their environment, in their culture, it just happens naturally.” Longevity was the outcome of centuries-old lifestyles. “We saw people in their 90s and 100s incredibly active,” he added. “Up to the end, they were full of life in a way we can’t imagine in this country.” Established in 2010, the Blue Zones Project is a three-year project to incorporate healthy choices and lifestyle changes through permanent changes to the city’s environment and social networks and implementing sustainable policies and practices, Nick Buettner said. Plant-based diets, low stress, a sense of community, strong connection with family and friends, meaningful occupations, purposeful lives and faith all played a role in the longevity of the “blue zone” inhabitants. So did, “moving naturally,” such as walking, biking gardening where “calories are burned without thinking.” Nick Buettner stressed that the success of the Grants Pass Blue Zone Project will be determined by a community-wide “willingness to engage” in making the necessary cultural shifts. “From government leadership to restaurants to schools to workplaces to grocery stores, how a community takes ownership is where the magic is,” he added. Currently, 42 communities in nine states have joined Blue Zones Project, involving more than 3.3 million Americans nationwide. Oregon is home to four Blue Zone communities. Klamath Falls launched its three-year program in 2015. Grants Pass, along with The Dalles and Umpqua communities, gets underway this year after months of planning. Major funding comes from Cambia Health Foundation in support of the Oregon Healthiest State initiative. Community supporters include Asante Health System, All Care Health Plan, Primary Health of Josephine County, Siskiyou Community Health Center and Club Northwest. Diane Hoover, who served as director of the Josephine County Public Health Department for six years, is the community program manager for Blue Zones Project – Grants Pass. She said she's eager to “improve public health and serve the community in a new way." With the program already seven months into its three-year contract, Hoover and the local team will have just two years and five months to whip Grants Pass into shape or at the very least make healthier choices more accessible and affordable. Hoover believes the buy-in and support from local elected officials, businesses and health care industry will make those goals achievable. Because all activities, including cooking classes, “Power of Purpose” workshops, walking groups and dining together events are free to the public, “Blue Zones is an economic leveler,” she added. “We will work through the social and economic barriers that often prevent health and wellness.” “By focusing on helping change the settings where people spend most of their time, we can make healthier choices easier,” she said. One of the most intriguing concepts Hoover would like to introduce is that of a “walking school bus” where a group of adults escort children to school. Starting at one end of a neighborhood, the adults collect the children and the entire group walks to school together. “It’s a cool way to exercise, mentor and strengthen relationships,” Hoover said. Cort Cox, now with the Grants Pass project, spent two years launching Klamath Falls Blue Zones. He saw first-hand how the project fostered “a positive atmosphere and created a collaborative spirit among those passionate about solving problems and building a stronger, healthier community.” He was part of a panel that toured the state and reviewed communities’ applications for status as a Blue Zones project. Grants Pass, he said, was “a stand-out” as a community primed for change. The Grants Pass team also includes George Prokop and Denise Kalic. Both consider their Blue Zone assignments “a perfect fit.” They are passionate about education, health care, fitness, volunteerism and community well-being. Prokop sees Southern Oregon’s agricultural industry as providing a “real opportunity” to bring the principle of eating wisely to bear. “We already have farmers and farmer’s markets,” he said. The goal is to make the organic, fresh foods “more easily accessible.” In his own life, Prokop has seen how fulfilling one’s purpose makes a difference in a long-lived life. “We have a large segment of retirees,” he said. He’s hoping upcoming “Power of Purpose” workshops will help them “discover and articulate their purpose.” Kalic sees the need for “cultural change” and “a lot of education” to combat obesity. Childhood obesity is of special concern, she said. Her role will include coordinating potlucks and walking “moais.” The word “moai’ comes from Okinawa, where meeting for a common purpose is traditional. She will also schedule healthy cooking demonstrations in workplaces, restaurants and schools. Nick Buettner said he was “transformed by the amazing people” he met in his travels. He’s hoping that their stories will “nudge” Grants Pass to put strategies in place that will drive the community to "health, wellness and longer, better lives.” For more information, visit Blue Zones Project – Grants Pass on Facebook. — Reach Grants Pass freelance writer Tammy Asnicar at [email protected].