We can control, at least in part, many things in our lives — such as what we eat, when we go to bed and where we live. But one thing we cannot control is our biological age. Whether we like it or not, from the moment we are born we are aging — some of us more gracefully than others. But how do we really feel about our inevitable aging?
According to a new survey conducted by Jacksonville University researchers, in partnership with Alcon, the global leader in eye care, most Gen X American adults think it’s important to look younger than their actual age. And these adults are doing a lot of things to try to look younger. Unfortunately, their perceptions of why we look older often don’t match what they’re doing to try to look and feel younger. Let’s take a closer look at some of the survey findings, and try to bring some light on what we can do to look and feel younger.
The researchers surveyed more than 1,000 American adults between the ages of 38 to 54 on their perceptions of aging. They found that people consider wrinkles (79 percent), grey hair (77 percent), varicose veins and spider veins (53 percent) and poor posture (50 percent) to be some of the top signs of aging. This was followed by yellow teeth (48 percent), being overweight (48 percent), the type of hair cut (38 percent), wearing too much makeup (34 percent) and wearing “mom jeans” (32 percent).
Surprisingly, although people surveyed reported that wrinkles and grey hair are some of the top reasons why we look older, only 42 percent of the people surveyed said they’ve dyed their hair to look younger. And only 3 percent reported that they use lotion or skincare products to feel younger. Looks like our perceptions of aging don’t line up with what we’re actually doing to look and feel younger.
In fact, to feel younger, physical activity topped the list with 37 percent of adults stating they exercise to feel younger. This was followed by having a good mental attitude (10 percent), eating healthy (9 percent) and hanging out with younger people (7 percent).
Interestingly, most adults surveyed have overlooked a simple and easy solution to help them look younger. The survey found that 1 in 4 adults thinks that reading glasses, or readers, make you look at least 10 years older. And not only did the survey find that readers make you look older, but only about 10 percent of the adults surveyed thought reading glasses are fashionable (although librarians may disagree).
So what’s the take-home message? We’re all after the elixir of youth, but simple — yet often overlooked — ways you may be able to look and feel youthful may be to ditch your reading glasses for contact lenses and do some yoga or go for a jog. These small tweaks to your everyday routine may have big rewards, such as taking years off your appearance or adding years to your life.
Findings of the survey were recently presented at the Jacksonville University Faculty and Student Symposium.
Disclosure: I have received compensation for my partnership with Alcon, but all opinions expressed here are my own.
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Do We Look as Old as We Feel? Aging Perceptions of Gen X Adults originally appeared on usnews.com
