L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2024 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 A s we describe in the cover story, Sar- dinia is a land of centenarians. The unusual concentra- tion of "great elders" inhabiting the island has drawn the atten- tion of scientists and demogra- phers, who in the 2000s intro- d u c e d t h e c o n c e p t o f B l u e Zones, areas where people live longer and healthier lives than in the rest of the world. Italy, a country with an aging popula- tion facing a demographic winter, is increasingly home to peo- ple over 80, nonagenarians, centenarians, and super-centenari- ans. The incredible increase in life expectancy is evident in the numbers. The National Institute of Statistics (Istat) calculated that from 2009 to 2021, the number of residents in Italy aged 100 and over rose from just over 10,000 to 17,000, with 83% of them being women. Those aged 105 and over more than dou- bled (+136%), increasing from 472 to 1,111. An interesting point to note is the high number of people reaching 105 years of age compared to other groups of great elders. This can be explained by the fact that those who turned 105 on January 1, 2021, were born in the first year of World War I (1915). This segment of the population does not reflect the lower birth rates during the war, which is noticeable in the L e s s o n s f r o m t h e s u p e r - c e n t e n a r i a n s , witnesses of time From the Editor "younger" 100-104 age group (as of 2021). Demographic statistics reveal other interesting facts. Region- ally, most centenarians reside in Northern Italy. Of those aged 105 and over, 284 live in the Northwest, 243 in the Northeast; 238 in the South, 225 in the Center, and 121 in the Islands. The region with the highest ratio of people aged 105 and over to the total resident population is Molise (4.1 per 100,000), followed by Valle d'Aosta (3.2 per 100,000), Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lig- uria, and Abruzzo (3.0 per 100,000 in all three regions). Lom- bardy, despite having the highest absolute number of residents aged 105 and over (161), has a ratio of 1.6 per 100,000, slightly below the national average (1.9 per 100,000). Analyzing the ratio between the population aged 105 and over and the population aged 80 and over, the regional distrib- ution remains the same: Molise has the highest concentration of people reaching 105 years, with nearly 46 per 100,000 resi- dents aged over 79. It should be noted that during the last decade, life expectan- cy in the European Union increased at a relatively steady pace until 2019, when life expectancy at birth was 81.3 years. Since then, in 2020 and 2021, corresponding with the pandemic, a decline was observed. However, curiously, unlike other age groups of the elderly population, those who had reached or sur- passed 105 years of age did not experience a significant increase in deaths during 2020, the first year of COVID-19. Overall, Liguria stands out as the region with the highest median age in all of Europe (52.1 years), while among the 20 oldest regions are Sardinia and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (50.6 years), Piedmont and Molise (50 years), Tuscany and Umbria (49.9 years), Valle d'Aosta (49.7 years), and Marche (49.5 years). In contrast, those who can expect to live the greatest number of years in good health are the residents of Bolzano: 66.5 years out of an expected 84.1 years of life at birth, equivalent to about 80% of their years. Bolzano, along with Trento, is among the European areas with the highest life expectancy at birth, according to Eurostat data. Specifically, in the province of Tren- to, women have an average life expectancy of 86.7 years (the second highest average on the continent). Conversely, Basilica- ta is the region with the lowest number of healthy life expectan- cy years, at 52.8 years in 2023, followed by Molise (54.9 years) and Calabria (55.4 years). In other words, the inhabitants of the province of Bolzano live better for 14 more years than those in Basilicata. Besides Alto Adige, Tuscany and Veneto also per- form well, with 62.5 and 62.3 healthy years out of an expected 83.8 years of life for both. Valle d'Aosta, which has one of the highest levels of healthy life expectancy at 64.0 years, is in line with the national average for overall life expectancy: 83.1 years. The numbers reflect a substantial well-being that Italian society is able to guarantee to increasingly larger groups of the population. But numbers, of course, do not tell the stories of people and their immeasurable wealth of knowledge, memo- ries, and experiences. Beyond medical advances and the impor- tance of a healthy lifestyle with a good Mediterranean diet, the true lesson we should cherish is the significance of the elderly. With their deep gazes and slow movements, they seem to go against the current of our virtual and frenetic modern times. Yet, it is their wrinkles that endure; they are the ones who have navigated events and become witnesses, sentinels of time. To paraphrase, it is a bit like the Italo-Americano, which is sailing towards 117 years: it is the long story behind it that makes its testimony unique. Similarly, the elderly teach us to view life with perspective and not to focus solely on the "here and now," which may be pleasant but will pass. To endure, sur- vive, and become centenarians like them, we need much more, starting with one thing: appreciating and respecting the dignity and beauty of aging. Simone Schiavinato, Editor Simone Schiavinato NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Member of FUSIE (Federazione Unitaria Stampa Italianaall'Estero), COGITO L'Italo-Americano Please send correspondence to P.O. BOX 6528, ALTADENA, CA 91003 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano Newspaper (a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization), www.italoamericano.org, is the largest and longest-running Italian news- paper in America, not to mention the cultural and news resource for all things Italian in the US. A bilingual newspaper which represents an historical landmark for the Italian American Communities in the West Coast and throughout the US. L'Italo-Americano benefits from subsidies by the Italian Government, Memberships and Donations intended to support and not interrupt a mission that began in 1908 to preserve and promote the Italian language and culture in the USA Periodicals postage paid at Monrovia, California 91016, and additional mailing offices. PUBLISHER Robert Barbera Grande Ufficiale EDITOR IN CHIEF Simone Schiavinato ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Patrick Abbate EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Barbara Minafra COPY EDITOR Francesca Bezzone LOS ANGELES CONTRIBUTOR Silvia Nittoli SAN FRANCISCO CONTRIBUTOR Serena Perfetto SEATTLE CONTRIBUTOR Rita Cipalla CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mariella Radaelli, Matt Walker, Francesca Bezzone, Luca Ferrari, Stefano Carnevali, Paula Reynolds, Teresa Di Fresco Nicoletta Curradi, Generoso D'Agnese, Jessica S. Levy, Fabrizio Del Bimbo, Maria Gloria, Chuck Pecoraro, Anthony Di Renzo Serena Perfetto, Kenneth Scambray, Chiara D'Alessio, Luca Signorini, Giulia Franceschini © 2024 L'Italo-Americano Membership: One year $59 - Single copy $2.25 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to L'Italo Americano PO Box 6528 Altadena, CA 91003 Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation!

• Cover