1 00:00:06,506 --> 00:00:08,508 [birds twittering] 2 00:00:24,649 --> 00:00:27,027 [Dan] I wanna tell a story about the one person 3 00:00:27,110 --> 00:00:31,239 who changed my entire way of thinking about Blue Zones, 4 00:00:31,781 --> 00:00:36,327 a man who lived on Ikaria, Greece, named Stamatis Moraitis. 5 00:00:36,828 --> 00:00:39,622 [ethereal music playing] 6 00:00:43,043 --> 00:00:43,877 [chuckles] 7 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:44,919 That's him. 8 00:00:45,670 --> 00:00:49,674 As a young man, Stamatis leaves Ikaria and moved to the United States 9 00:00:49,758 --> 00:00:52,010 because he wants to make a life for himself. 10 00:00:52,927 --> 00:00:57,599 A hard-working Greek, he gets a job as a painter, quickly starts making money. 11 00:00:57,682 --> 00:01:00,477 He earns enough to buy a Chevrolet, 12 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,228 to marry a Greek American, 13 00:01:02,312 --> 00:01:04,481 and he buys a house in the suburbs. 14 00:01:04,564 --> 00:01:08,234 Has a few kids, lives a nice American life. 15 00:01:08,318 --> 00:01:11,863 But at age 66, he finds himself short of breath. 16 00:01:11,946 --> 00:01:15,658 He goes to three doctors, all of whom give him the same diagnosis. 17 00:01:15,742 --> 00:01:19,621 "Terminal lung cancer. You'll probably be dead in six months." 18 00:01:21,122 --> 00:01:24,417 So he says to himself, "Well, you know, I get buried here in America, 19 00:01:24,501 --> 00:01:29,214 or I can get buried in Ikaria, the land of my forefathers." 20 00:01:29,714 --> 00:01:34,469 So he and his wife move to Ikaria to basically die. 21 00:01:34,552 --> 00:01:37,597 [church bell tolling] 22 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,141 [pensive music playing] 23 00:01:41,059 --> 00:01:44,187 [Dan] But over that next six months, he starts breathing the air, 24 00:01:44,270 --> 00:01:46,731 drinking the Ikarian wine, 25 00:01:46,815 --> 00:01:48,817 he reconnects with his friends. 26 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:52,070 And he goes out back, and he plants a vineyard. 27 00:01:52,153 --> 00:01:53,947 And he thinks to himself, 28 00:01:54,030 --> 00:01:57,367 "Well, I'm not gonna be alive to see these grapes, 29 00:01:57,450 --> 00:01:58,618 but my wife will, 30 00:01:58,701 --> 00:02:02,038 and my wife will think of me when she harvests these grapes." 31 00:02:02,122 --> 00:02:03,331 [video camera whirs] 32 00:02:03,414 --> 00:02:05,041 [Dan] Months go by, 33 00:02:05,125 --> 00:02:06,417 then a year, 34 00:02:06,501 --> 00:02:07,961 and more years. 35 00:02:08,795 --> 00:02:11,381 [Dan on video] How are you? Dan Buettner. Nice to see you. 36 00:02:11,464 --> 00:02:13,049 -Thank you. -[Dan laughs] 37 00:02:13,133 --> 00:02:15,343 [Dan] For some reason, I thought you would look old. 38 00:02:15,426 --> 00:02:16,344 I'm old. 39 00:02:16,427 --> 00:02:19,264 Yeah, but you don't look old. [laughing] 40 00:02:19,347 --> 00:02:22,475 [Dan] Thirty-five years later, when I'd meet him at 102, 41 00:02:22,559 --> 00:02:25,937 he's not only still alive, he's harvesting all these grapes. 42 00:02:26,020 --> 00:02:28,857 Being a journalist, I asked him, "What's your secret?" 43 00:02:28,940 --> 00:02:31,901 He just kinda shrugs his shoulders and goes, "I don't know!" 44 00:02:32,652 --> 00:02:34,529 "I guess I just forgot to die." 45 00:02:35,405 --> 00:02:36,990 [both laughing] 46 00:02:37,073 --> 00:02:39,993 [Dan] So Stamatis didn't start exercising more. 47 00:02:40,076 --> 00:02:42,036 He didn't start a new drug regimen. 48 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,249 In fact, he didn't do anything consciously to try to get healthier. 49 00:02:46,332 --> 00:02:49,711 All he did was change his environment. 50 00:02:49,794 --> 00:02:51,796 [mysterious music playing] 51 00:02:53,715 --> 00:02:57,635 [Dan] I'm a big believer if you're overweight and unhealthy in America, 52 00:02:57,719 --> 00:03:00,180 it's probably not your fault. 53 00:03:00,263 --> 00:03:03,683 We've engineered most of the physical activity out of our lives 54 00:03:03,766 --> 00:03:05,476 with mechanical gadgetry. 55 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,520 You can't walk more than a few steps 56 00:03:07,604 --> 00:03:11,316 without running into cookies or chips or sodas. 57 00:03:11,399 --> 00:03:14,986 And we're genetically hardwired to crave fat and salt and sugar 58 00:03:15,069 --> 00:03:16,779 and take rest whenever we can. 59 00:03:16,863 --> 00:03:20,867 We evolved in this environment of hardship and scarcity, 60 00:03:20,950 --> 00:03:26,539 and now we live in this environment of ease and excess. 61 00:03:26,623 --> 00:03:30,043 I think we're mostly victims of our environment. 62 00:03:30,543 --> 00:03:34,631 And it leads to this bigger idea that if we want a healthier America, 63 00:03:34,714 --> 00:03:39,969 we shape our environment the way that the environments are 64 00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:43,181 in places that are producing the longest-lived people on earth, 65 00:03:43,264 --> 00:03:45,558 which is to say, Blue Zones. 66 00:03:57,028 --> 00:03:59,822 So after exploring all these Blue Zones, 67 00:03:59,906 --> 00:04:02,992 collecting thousands of pages of research, 68 00:04:03,076 --> 00:04:05,954 amassing years of observation, 69 00:04:06,037 --> 00:04:08,623 even though these are disparate places, 70 00:04:08,706 --> 00:04:11,042 you start to see a pattern emerge. 71 00:04:14,170 --> 00:04:17,548 No matter where you go in the world and you see longevity, 72 00:04:17,632 --> 00:04:22,637 you see the same things happening over and over and over again. 73 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,390 So, by and large, they're not exercising. 74 00:04:25,890 --> 00:04:28,559 Instead, every time they go to work or a friend's house 75 00:04:28,643 --> 00:04:30,436 or out to eat, it occasions a walk. 76 00:04:30,937 --> 00:04:31,980 They have gardens out back 77 00:04:32,063 --> 00:04:35,942 where they're doing gentle, low-intensity physical activity. 78 00:04:36,025 --> 00:04:40,029 They don't have mechanical conveniences to do their housework or their yard work. 79 00:04:41,072 --> 00:04:43,074 The point is they're moving naturally, 80 00:04:43,157 --> 00:04:46,369 and I believe that they get way more physical activity 81 00:04:46,452 --> 00:04:47,996 than if they went to the gym. 82 00:04:48,079 --> 00:04:52,458 [in Japanese] This is the key to health. Moving fast. 83 00:04:53,042 --> 00:04:55,878 [in English] Look at that! [laughing] 84 00:04:56,838 --> 00:04:58,381 They have the right outlook. 85 00:04:58,881 --> 00:05:02,468 They suffer from the same stresses that we suffer, 86 00:05:02,552 --> 00:05:04,929 but they have these sacred daily rituals 87 00:05:05,013 --> 00:05:08,641 to help unwind that stress and the inflammation that comes with it. 88 00:05:08,725 --> 00:05:11,185 I would say I'm generally at peace. 89 00:05:11,269 --> 00:05:13,813 Worry can do nothing for you. 90 00:05:14,355 --> 00:05:16,983 [Dan] They tend to belong to a faith-based community, 91 00:05:17,066 --> 00:05:18,234 and they show up. 92 00:05:18,735 --> 00:05:20,320 They take naps. 93 00:05:20,820 --> 00:05:22,071 They do happy hours. 94 00:05:22,822 --> 00:05:25,658 They also have a vocabulary for purpose. 95 00:05:25,742 --> 00:05:27,785 The Okinawans have ikigai. 96 00:05:27,869 --> 00:05:30,121 The Costa Ricans have plan de vida. 97 00:05:30,204 --> 00:05:33,249 But the point is, they know why they wake up in the morning, 98 00:05:33,333 --> 00:05:36,377 and they're putting their gifts to work every day. 99 00:05:38,838 --> 00:05:41,049 When it comes to what they eat, the big point 100 00:05:41,132 --> 00:05:44,010 is they enjoy eating delicious food. 101 00:05:44,093 --> 00:05:45,887 The vast majority of it 102 00:05:45,970 --> 00:05:49,390 is whole, plant-based food, like whole grains, 103 00:05:49,474 --> 00:05:50,391 greens, 104 00:05:50,475 --> 00:05:52,143 tubers like sweet potatoes, 105 00:05:52,226 --> 00:05:53,144 nuts. 106 00:05:53,227 --> 00:05:56,606 Bean seems to be the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world. 107 00:05:56,689 --> 00:05:59,025 And the good news? There's a little bit of wine. 108 00:05:59,108 --> 00:06:01,402 What's the best tea to drink on a daily basis? 109 00:06:01,486 --> 00:06:03,237 -[speaking Greek] -[in English] Wine. 110 00:06:03,321 --> 00:06:05,323 [Dan and women laugh] 111 00:06:05,406 --> 00:06:07,992 [Dan] So it's also about what they don't eat. 112 00:06:08,076 --> 00:06:10,703 The Okinawans have this ingenious saying, 113 00:06:10,787 --> 00:06:12,288 "hara hachi bu," 114 00:06:12,372 --> 00:06:15,875 which reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full. 115 00:06:15,958 --> 00:06:17,752 They eat with family. 116 00:06:17,835 --> 00:06:20,213 They express gratitude before their meal, 117 00:06:20,296 --> 00:06:21,672 and they're slowing down 118 00:06:21,756 --> 00:06:24,384 because they're having conversation with their food, 119 00:06:24,467 --> 00:06:27,428 so at the end of the day, they're not mindlessly overeating. 120 00:06:28,888 --> 00:06:31,015 So the most important is how they connect. 121 00:06:31,099 --> 00:06:33,851 It's probably 50% of the longevity formula, 122 00:06:33,935 --> 00:06:35,853 the fact that they put family first. 123 00:06:36,437 --> 00:06:39,524 I found that they keep their aging parents nearby 124 00:06:39,607 --> 00:06:42,026 as opposed to putting them in a retirement home. 125 00:06:42,110 --> 00:06:46,072 They invest in their partners and their spouses so people stay together, 126 00:06:46,155 --> 00:06:47,698 and they invest in their children 127 00:06:47,782 --> 00:06:50,910 so their children don't end up putting them in retirement homes. 128 00:06:51,411 --> 00:06:55,665 And then they pay special attention to their immediate social circle. 129 00:06:55,748 --> 00:06:57,917 You know, the Okinawans call it a moai, 130 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,838 but it's a circle of friends that you invest in for life. 131 00:07:01,921 --> 00:07:04,549 Having the right friends, that is the biggest secret 132 00:07:04,632 --> 00:07:07,677 to help these people in Blue Zones do the right things 133 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:09,887 and avoid the wrong things 134 00:07:09,971 --> 00:07:14,142 so they're not developing a disease that will foreshorten their lives. 135 00:07:16,644 --> 00:07:18,688 So I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, 136 00:07:18,771 --> 00:07:22,066 that these common denominators of all five Blue Zones, they work! 137 00:07:24,444 --> 00:07:28,197 Now what I needed was a chance to prove it. 138 00:07:31,659 --> 00:07:33,035 [tape whirring] 139 00:07:33,119 --> 00:07:35,371 [all chattering] 140 00:07:35,455 --> 00:07:38,291 [man on video] After the mayor speaks, you take it over and expand. 141 00:07:38,791 --> 00:07:39,625 Oh, okay, great. 142 00:07:39,709 --> 00:07:41,002 -[man] All right? -Great. 143 00:07:41,752 --> 00:07:43,713 -All right. You guys ready? -[camera clicks] 144 00:07:44,755 --> 00:07:50,720 The goal of this project is to give an extra 10,000 years of life expectancy. 145 00:07:50,803 --> 00:07:54,515 Sounds like a big, grand number, but what does that mean? 146 00:07:54,599 --> 00:07:57,935 The goal is to give participants in Albert Lea 147 00:07:58,019 --> 00:08:00,146 an extra two years of life expectancy. 148 00:08:00,855 --> 00:08:03,524 [Dan] So, in 2009, I actually started thinking, 149 00:08:03,608 --> 00:08:06,986 could I take these ideas I'd learned in the Blue Zones, 150 00:08:07,069 --> 00:08:08,446 apply them in America, 151 00:08:08,529 --> 00:08:12,950 and put them to work in a community that actually needs it? 152 00:08:13,034 --> 00:08:16,579 I reached out to the top experts at the time. 153 00:08:16,662 --> 00:08:18,789 They told me, "If you wanna create a Blue Zone, 154 00:08:18,873 --> 00:08:21,250 start with a city of about 20,000 people." 155 00:08:21,334 --> 00:08:24,462 That's enough people so you have a city hall. 156 00:08:24,962 --> 00:08:27,924 We ended up choosing this city of 18,000 people 157 00:08:28,007 --> 00:08:29,383 called Albert Lea, Minnesota. 158 00:08:29,967 --> 00:08:31,427 Like most small towns, 159 00:08:31,511 --> 00:08:35,431 it pretty much reflected the health of the rest of America, 160 00:08:35,515 --> 00:08:38,351 but it had the bones of a beautiful city. 161 00:08:39,310 --> 00:08:41,354 I remember our first day in Albert Lea. 162 00:08:41,437 --> 00:08:45,566 I got all the town's leaders in a room, and I give this presentation. 163 00:08:45,650 --> 00:08:48,569 It means that they'll look younger, feel younger, 164 00:08:48,653 --> 00:08:50,238 um, they should live longer, 165 00:08:50,321 --> 00:08:52,740 but they also have lower rates of cardiovascular disease. 166 00:08:52,823 --> 00:08:54,575 [Dan] And people were kind of befuddled. 167 00:08:54,659 --> 00:08:56,369 Like, you know, I was sweating 168 00:08:56,452 --> 00:08:58,371 'cause I just thought, "They don't get it." 169 00:08:58,454 --> 00:09:00,206 Are there any questions? 170 00:09:03,459 --> 00:09:06,712 But I remember the local State Farm Insurance salesman, 171 00:09:06,796 --> 00:09:08,297 a tall guy, 172 00:09:08,381 --> 00:09:09,590 stood up, and he said, 173 00:09:10,591 --> 00:09:12,885 "This city needs this." 174 00:09:12,969 --> 00:09:17,223 And Bob Graham, you know, another stalwart of the city, 175 00:09:17,306 --> 00:09:21,644 a kind of older guy, he said, "Yes, we need to make it happen here," 176 00:09:21,727 --> 00:09:22,937 and then, you know, 177 00:09:23,020 --> 00:09:26,023 once these leaders say it, it falls like dominoes. 178 00:09:26,107 --> 00:09:29,068 [drumming and chanting] 179 00:09:33,406 --> 00:09:36,033 [Dan] We developed something called the True Vitality Test 180 00:09:36,117 --> 00:09:38,703 to calculate the average person's life expectancy. 181 00:09:39,287 --> 00:09:41,622 So we learned people's BMI, what they ate, 182 00:09:41,706 --> 00:09:46,544 and many of their other health behaviors, which gave us a starting point. 183 00:09:46,627 --> 00:09:51,215 And then we started methodically changing their environment, 184 00:09:51,299 --> 00:09:52,300 little by little. 185 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,469 Traveling throughout the five Blue Zones, I now knew 186 00:09:55,553 --> 00:09:58,598 what the longest-lived people did to live a long time. 187 00:09:58,681 --> 00:10:01,267 They ate wisely, they moved naturally, 188 00:10:01,350 --> 00:10:04,228 they had the right outlook, and they knew how to connect. 189 00:10:05,646 --> 00:10:10,234 But the big idea was trying to put these ideas to work. 190 00:10:11,235 --> 00:10:13,863 The first thing we tried is this idea of a moai. 191 00:10:14,572 --> 00:10:19,827 We gathered people in Albert Lea together and then broke them up into little groups. 192 00:10:19,910 --> 00:10:23,205 And I didn't even know if this would work. I had no idea. 193 00:10:23,289 --> 00:10:26,125 I challenged them. "For the next ten weeks, 194 00:10:26,208 --> 00:10:27,918 I want you to walk together." 195 00:10:28,002 --> 00:10:31,172 And you know what? A few years later, news reports actually found 196 00:10:31,255 --> 00:10:35,259 that nearly half of all these friendships lasted, 197 00:10:35,343 --> 00:10:38,012 all thanks to those moai. 198 00:10:38,095 --> 00:10:40,598 Alice, would you have ever run into each other 199 00:10:40,681 --> 00:10:42,141 if not for this walking group? 200 00:10:42,224 --> 00:10:44,185 I… No. No, I don't think so. 201 00:10:44,268 --> 00:10:46,270 -[reporter] Brand-new friendships? -New friendships. 202 00:10:47,855 --> 00:10:51,942 All these Blue Zones have a vocabulary for purpose. 203 00:10:52,026 --> 00:10:55,905 Loma Linda taught us the power of volunteering, 204 00:10:55,988 --> 00:10:57,865 of taking care of others. 205 00:10:57,948 --> 00:11:02,995 We immediately set up curated volunteer opportunities for them. 206 00:11:03,079 --> 00:11:06,248 We know that people who volunteer have lower rates of heart disease, 207 00:11:06,332 --> 00:11:08,084 they weigh less, 208 00:11:08,167 --> 00:11:12,713 and they have measurably lower healthcare costs. 209 00:11:12,797 --> 00:11:15,591 And then we start bringing in the food policies, 210 00:11:16,384 --> 00:11:19,053 and we start getting healthier grocery stores 211 00:11:19,136 --> 00:11:21,138 and healthier restaurants. 212 00:11:24,225 --> 00:11:25,393 And then, finally, 213 00:11:25,476 --> 00:11:29,605 there was this great main street that was dying a little bit, 214 00:11:30,314 --> 00:11:34,276 and of the four neighborhoods in Albert Lea, 215 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,655 none of them had a clear walkway to this downtown. 216 00:11:38,239 --> 00:11:42,159 So we worked with the city to make it more walkable and livable. 217 00:11:42,243 --> 00:11:43,661 We built bike lanes. 218 00:11:43,744 --> 00:11:46,956 We put walking paths around a nearby lake, 219 00:11:47,039 --> 00:11:48,165 and we built sidewalks 220 00:11:48,249 --> 00:11:53,504 so people from nearly every neighborhood in Albert Lea could walk downtown. 221 00:11:57,675 --> 00:12:00,469 So we administered the True Vitality Test a second time, 222 00:12:00,553 --> 00:12:05,182 and we found that life expectancy was going up even more than we thought, 223 00:12:05,266 --> 00:12:07,435 and it was generating all this excitement, 224 00:12:07,518 --> 00:12:10,730 so much so that we had national TV crews coming out to cover it. 225 00:12:10,813 --> 00:12:12,356 You did even better than expected. 226 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,109 You were hoping to add maybe two years on to people's lives, 227 00:12:15,192 --> 00:12:16,110 and you have added… 228 00:12:16,193 --> 00:12:19,029 -3.1 years. It's amazing. -3.1 years! 229 00:12:19,113 --> 00:12:20,698 [crowd cheering] 230 00:12:20,781 --> 00:12:22,366 [uplifting music playing] 231 00:12:30,374 --> 00:12:35,004 [Dan] So, we now knew we could manufacture a Blue Zone in small-town America, 232 00:12:35,629 --> 00:12:38,090 but could it work for a nation? 233 00:12:38,758 --> 00:12:41,594 That question took me to the other side of the planet, 234 00:12:41,677 --> 00:12:46,182 where I found an island that offered a vision for a future Blue Zone, 235 00:12:46,265 --> 00:12:49,059 a Blue Zone 2.0. 236 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:51,687 [mellow electronic music playing] 237 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,156 Singapore is a completely manufactured society. 238 00:13:02,823 --> 00:13:05,534 Here we have this little island in Southeast Asia, 239 00:13:05,618 --> 00:13:08,788 only about 30 miles long and 16 miles wide. 240 00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:11,540 This is a complex urban society 241 00:13:11,624 --> 00:13:16,921 filled with futuristic high-rises and 5.8 million residents. 242 00:13:18,255 --> 00:13:21,675 But it's not only producing the happiest population in the world 243 00:13:21,759 --> 00:13:22,760 by many measures. 244 00:13:22,843 --> 00:13:24,595 It's also one of the richest. 245 00:13:25,095 --> 00:13:29,016 And what makes it really extraordinary is you go back a little over a generation, 246 00:13:29,099 --> 00:13:34,814 Singapore is essentially a fishing village with below-average life expectancy. 247 00:13:34,897 --> 00:13:36,732 And now a global study shows it 248 00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:41,237 to have the healthiest life expectancy in the world, 249 00:13:42,029 --> 00:13:46,325 where a person can live in full health without disease or disability. 250 00:13:51,372 --> 00:13:53,457 So, Dr. Chow, let me ask you, 251 00:13:53,541 --> 00:13:55,876 you know, we are here in Singapore 252 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,254 because studies show that people here 253 00:13:58,337 --> 00:14:01,674 have the longest healthy life expectancy in the world, 254 00:14:02,216 --> 00:14:05,261 and it occurs to us that you're a perfect example of that. 255 00:14:05,344 --> 00:14:09,014 You're 93 years old, and you still do surgery. 256 00:14:09,098 --> 00:14:10,683 You still do calligraphy. 257 00:14:10,766 --> 00:14:13,477 How do you explain this incredible vitality? 258 00:14:13,561 --> 00:14:17,106 I never expected I can live until today. 259 00:14:17,189 --> 00:14:18,566 I enjoy that work. 260 00:14:19,066 --> 00:14:22,027 I treat that patient. Then I feel the joy. 261 00:14:22,736 --> 00:14:25,197 [Dan] So, uh, what are we gonna do here? 262 00:14:26,198 --> 00:14:27,491 Check your blood pressure. 263 00:14:27,575 --> 00:14:28,951 [Dan] All right. I have to… 264 00:14:29,034 --> 00:14:29,869 Very good! 265 00:14:29,952 --> 00:14:31,120 [Dan] Oh, good! What am I? 266 00:14:31,203 --> 00:14:35,124 [Dr. Chow] 122 over 80. This is very standard. 267 00:14:35,207 --> 00:14:36,500 -Good, good. -[Dr. Chow] Yeah. 268 00:14:36,584 --> 00:14:39,461 [Dan] So, if I wanted to live to 100, 269 00:14:39,545 --> 00:14:42,089 what advice would you give me? 270 00:14:42,172 --> 00:14:45,843 [Dr. Chow] We have to work hard every day, honest. 271 00:14:46,468 --> 00:14:47,970 [Dan] Work hard, be honest. 272 00:14:48,053 --> 00:14:50,598 [Dr. Chow] Yeah. Then most important, humble. 273 00:14:50,681 --> 00:14:52,433 Humble is not easy. 274 00:14:53,058 --> 00:14:58,689 [Dan] I heard you're a good tennis player. I found out that of all sports, 275 00:14:58,772 --> 00:15:02,109 people who play tennis have the highest life expectancy. 276 00:15:02,192 --> 00:15:03,986 Was that for tennis? 277 00:15:04,069 --> 00:15:05,654 Oh, no, this is karaoke. 278 00:15:05,738 --> 00:15:07,406 -[Dan] Oh, karaoke? [laughs] -Yes. 279 00:15:07,489 --> 00:15:10,200 [Dan] That's amazing. You're good at everything. 280 00:15:11,035 --> 00:15:14,788 I spent the better part of 20 years finding these Blue Zones, 281 00:15:14,872 --> 00:15:16,081 and in most of them, 282 00:15:16,165 --> 00:15:18,751 it's a culture that's been around for hundreds of years 283 00:15:18,834 --> 00:15:20,336 or a millennia. 284 00:15:20,419 --> 00:15:25,591 But life expectancy here in the 1960s was about 20 years less than it is today. 285 00:15:25,674 --> 00:15:28,802 -Mm-hmm. -So, how does Singapore achieve that? 286 00:15:28,886 --> 00:15:30,804 We don't have natural resources. 287 00:15:30,888 --> 00:15:33,641 People are our natural resource. 288 00:15:33,724 --> 00:15:37,937 To be in politics is about improving the lives of people. 289 00:15:38,020 --> 00:15:42,524 And that's why, in Singapore, we have very severe penalties on drugs 290 00:15:42,608 --> 00:15:44,944 and for people who carry guns, 291 00:15:45,027 --> 00:15:48,572 so that our people would not fear for their safety. 292 00:15:48,656 --> 00:15:50,282 But it's not just that. 293 00:15:50,366 --> 00:15:52,701 There's a saying in the civil service. 294 00:15:52,785 --> 00:15:57,289 "Policy is implementation. Implementation is policy." 295 00:15:57,873 --> 00:16:00,209 Singapore works on nudges. 296 00:16:00,876 --> 00:16:03,587 There's a war on diabetes, for instance, in Singapore. 297 00:16:03,671 --> 00:16:07,549 People are taking too much sugar. They eat the wrong foods. 298 00:16:07,633 --> 00:16:11,345 So, what do we do? What does the government of Singapore do? 299 00:16:11,428 --> 00:16:14,098 They try to help you help yourselves. 300 00:16:23,148 --> 00:16:24,274 [Dan] In past decades, 301 00:16:24,358 --> 00:16:27,152 Singapore's food environment wasn't all that healthy. 302 00:16:27,236 --> 00:16:28,404 They had junk food. 303 00:16:28,487 --> 00:16:31,115 They had lots of oil and sugar in their food. 304 00:16:31,615 --> 00:16:36,286 But they were able to take steps to change their environment 305 00:16:36,370 --> 00:16:39,456 so it was easier to make the healthy choice. 306 00:16:39,540 --> 00:16:42,668 For example, brown rice is a lot healthier than white rice. 307 00:16:42,751 --> 00:16:44,586 Brown rice has more fiber in it, 308 00:16:44,670 --> 00:16:46,922 so they subsidize brown rice 309 00:16:47,006 --> 00:16:49,174 to make it more affordable and more popular. 310 00:16:51,635 --> 00:16:53,637 Soda pop, sugar-sweetened beverages, 311 00:16:53,721 --> 00:16:57,516 number one source of refined sugar in most diets. 312 00:16:57,599 --> 00:16:59,268 Well, Singapore made an agreement 313 00:16:59,351 --> 00:17:02,438 to actually cap the amount of sugar allowed in soda, 314 00:17:02,521 --> 00:17:06,150 an idea nearly unheard of in places like the United States. 315 00:17:08,110 --> 00:17:11,196 And then, finally, they create this program for vendors, 316 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,073 or hawkers, as they call them, 317 00:17:13,157 --> 00:17:16,368 to put a sign up if they're offering true healthier food 318 00:17:16,452 --> 00:17:20,497 to attract the customers who want a healthier choice. 319 00:17:20,581 --> 00:17:23,417 So, you see, they're just making this environment, 320 00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:26,003 setting up nudges and defaults 321 00:17:26,086 --> 00:17:29,506 to make the healthy choice the unavoidable choice. 322 00:17:37,598 --> 00:17:41,518 This is the most densely populated country on earth. 323 00:17:41,602 --> 00:17:44,772 We're driving during rush hour, and the traffic's not bad. 324 00:17:44,855 --> 00:17:48,025 [man] Yep, because the high cost of the cars. 325 00:17:48,108 --> 00:17:51,487 [Dan] And this car costs about $100,000 in the United States. 326 00:17:51,570 --> 00:17:54,156 What does this car cost here in Singapore? 327 00:17:54,239 --> 00:17:55,157 [Douglas] 250,000. 328 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,576 -So two and a half times more. -[Douglas] Yep, that's right. 329 00:17:57,659 --> 00:18:00,579 And then you have to pay the right to drive, right? 330 00:18:00,662 --> 00:18:02,039 -[Douglas] Yeah. -How much is that? 331 00:18:02,122 --> 00:18:06,335 [Douglas] Yeah. Right now, that today is about 100,000 Singapore dollars. 332 00:18:06,418 --> 00:18:08,253 Just the paper. No car, nothing. 333 00:18:09,254 --> 00:18:11,632 [Dan] So I keep hearing about this and asking, 334 00:18:11,715 --> 00:18:15,302 "What is the wisdom in making cars exceedingly expensive?" 335 00:18:15,385 --> 00:18:18,972 And to really understand that, I found that you have to look to America. 336 00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:23,185 You see, after World War II, we had such a good economy going 337 00:18:23,268 --> 00:18:27,731 that we built new homes outward from the cities. 338 00:18:27,815 --> 00:18:31,110 And to get to these suburbs, we built highways to go out even further, 339 00:18:31,735 --> 00:18:38,408 and people had to drive longer distances until we created this dependency on cars. 340 00:18:38,492 --> 00:18:41,912 The American Dream said you can get a house, a yard, and a car 341 00:18:41,995 --> 00:18:44,164 and drive to your job in the big city. 342 00:18:44,248 --> 00:18:49,128 And the cost is that the streets that were once designed for pedestrians 343 00:18:49,211 --> 00:18:52,798 were now expanded to make more car lanes. 344 00:18:52,881 --> 00:18:56,260 Today we're spending about twice the amount of time in cars 345 00:18:56,343 --> 00:18:57,845 than we did in the 1980s. 346 00:18:57,928 --> 00:19:01,807 All this is great for car companies and fast food restaurants, 347 00:19:01,890 --> 00:19:03,725 but we bought into that too. 348 00:19:04,726 --> 00:19:08,272 As Singapore grew, it likely saw a similar problem 349 00:19:08,355 --> 00:19:11,525 as the population of this small island expanded. 350 00:19:12,609 --> 00:19:14,987 If everybody had two cars, 351 00:19:15,070 --> 00:19:18,574 so you had ten million cars on this tiny piece of land, 352 00:19:18,657 --> 00:19:20,200 what would this look like? 353 00:19:20,284 --> 00:19:22,327 Uh, a traffic jam. 354 00:19:22,411 --> 00:19:24,413 [both laughing] 355 00:19:26,373 --> 00:19:28,125 Nobody is going anywhere! 356 00:19:29,459 --> 00:19:32,379 [Dan] In the United States, about 80% of people own cars, 357 00:19:32,462 --> 00:19:34,882 and here, it's about 11%, 358 00:19:34,965 --> 00:19:38,844 but yet you don't see people having trouble getting around. 359 00:19:38,927 --> 00:19:41,263 [Douglas] The public transport is very convenient. 360 00:19:41,346 --> 00:19:43,140 Wherever you live, 361 00:19:43,223 --> 00:19:46,518 in about ten, 15 minutes, you can walk to a train station. 362 00:19:48,562 --> 00:19:52,858 [Dan] Singapore's public transportation is so widespread and accessible 363 00:19:52,941 --> 00:19:55,819 that it is used by nearly half the population 364 00:19:55,903 --> 00:20:01,450 on a daily basis, compared to the U.S. average of 5%. 365 00:20:01,533 --> 00:20:05,370 People reach the trains and buses using bike lanes 366 00:20:05,454 --> 00:20:08,665 and protected walkways paid for by the car taxes 367 00:20:08,749 --> 00:20:12,628 and often pass through one of the island's 350 parks. 368 00:20:12,711 --> 00:20:15,964 Here, you find government-sponsored exercise programs 369 00:20:16,048 --> 00:20:18,425 that build community and friendship, 370 00:20:19,134 --> 00:20:23,722 and all of this from favoring people over cars. 371 00:20:39,154 --> 00:20:41,198 Have you always been in this good a shape? 372 00:20:41,281 --> 00:20:45,577 [in Mandarin] I came from Hong Kong, where we did not have such sports facilities. 373 00:20:45,661 --> 00:20:50,666 When I came to Singapore, I saw these sports facilities everywhere, 374 00:20:50,749 --> 00:20:53,085 so I started to practice bar and pull-ups. 375 00:20:53,168 --> 00:20:56,171 [in English] Every residence, there is a fitness corner. See? 376 00:20:56,255 --> 00:20:59,424 And the government encourages us to exercise. 377 00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:03,762 [Dan] So, how do you get around? Do you guys own cars? 378 00:21:03,845 --> 00:21:07,933 [in Mandarin] I walk to subway stations and go shopping. 379 00:21:08,642 --> 00:21:10,394 I'm still working, so I'm taking the subway. 380 00:21:10,477 --> 00:21:13,522 [Dan in English] How many kilometers do you walk a day? 381 00:21:13,605 --> 00:21:15,357 [Ngai in Mandarin] Over 10,000 steps. 382 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,693 [in English] That's almost four miles of walking, 383 00:21:17,776 --> 00:21:19,778 which probably takes an hour and a half. 384 00:21:20,737 --> 00:21:24,700 You're getting three times as much physical activity just living your life 385 00:21:24,783 --> 00:21:26,660 than you are doing exercise. 386 00:21:27,744 --> 00:21:29,329 [Victor] We are very fortunate. 387 00:21:37,337 --> 00:21:39,298 [Dan] Another interesting dimension of Singapore is 388 00:21:39,381 --> 00:21:42,926 over 80% of everyone there owns their own home. 389 00:21:43,010 --> 00:21:45,595 When they own their own home, they take better care of it. 390 00:21:45,679 --> 00:21:48,598 They invest in their neighbors. You get a better community. 391 00:21:49,099 --> 00:21:52,477 One exceptional example is the Kampung Admiralty, 392 00:21:53,770 --> 00:21:57,899 an affordable, government-subsidized housing project. 393 00:21:57,983 --> 00:22:00,819 It's designed for citizens over 55 394 00:22:00,902 --> 00:22:02,821 to own their own homes. 395 00:22:04,489 --> 00:22:06,241 [woman] This being a kampung, 396 00:22:06,325 --> 00:22:08,910 which is "village" in the Malay language… 397 00:22:09,870 --> 00:22:14,374 The vision of the team then was really, how do we create a kampung here? 398 00:22:14,958 --> 00:22:17,919 The simple concept is a club sandwich. We will-- 399 00:22:18,003 --> 00:22:20,172 -[Dan] A club sandwich? -Yeah, it's a club sandwich. 400 00:22:20,255 --> 00:22:24,968 We want to layer all the users vertically. Yeah. 401 00:22:25,052 --> 00:22:27,721 At the top, elderly apartments. 402 00:22:27,804 --> 00:22:29,931 Our rooftops are all landscape. 403 00:22:30,015 --> 00:22:33,101 So that's true. Actually helps the elderly keep active. 404 00:22:33,185 --> 00:22:35,937 The second layer is this medical center. 405 00:22:36,021 --> 00:22:38,315 The bottom layer is the public plaza, 406 00:22:38,398 --> 00:22:42,736 a space where people can find a lot of space to interact. 407 00:22:42,819 --> 00:22:44,321 The surrounding residents, 408 00:22:44,404 --> 00:22:47,908 they are always streaming through this building to take the train. 409 00:22:47,991 --> 00:22:50,744 [Dan] So, it's easy to get here through public transportation? 410 00:22:50,827 --> 00:22:53,663 So you don't necessarily push them together, 411 00:22:54,164 --> 00:22:55,665 but you nudge them together. 412 00:22:55,749 --> 00:22:58,752 You create a space where they're gonna bump into each other. 413 00:22:58,835 --> 00:22:59,961 [Pearl] Correct. 414 00:23:00,045 --> 00:23:05,342 When I think about Costa Rica or Okinawa or Sardinia, 415 00:23:06,134 --> 00:23:08,428 I see people who live in a village. 416 00:23:08,512 --> 00:23:10,639 They're very close to nature. 417 00:23:10,722 --> 00:23:12,808 -The old and the young interact. -[Pearl] Hmm. 418 00:23:12,891 --> 00:23:16,853 [Dan] There is a center where you can find a place to eat. 419 00:23:16,937 --> 00:23:18,397 [Pearl] I think that's very healing, 420 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:23,402 but sometimes it's really hard to scientifically quantify it, you know? 421 00:23:23,485 --> 00:23:26,655 [Dan] There's actually been a study that has shown 422 00:23:26,738 --> 00:23:33,245 that the casual social interactions we have during the day with the postman, 423 00:23:33,328 --> 00:23:37,457 with the person you meet at the bus stop, with the baristas, 424 00:23:37,541 --> 00:23:41,294 are actually a better predictor of longevity than diet and exercise. 425 00:23:41,378 --> 00:23:43,755 And I think what people miss 426 00:23:43,839 --> 00:23:46,967 is that loneliness is a function of our environment. 427 00:23:47,050 --> 00:23:50,846 [Pearl] Because I'm in the environment, it's different from the past. 428 00:23:50,929 --> 00:23:54,015 We are living in a very urbanized setting, 429 00:23:54,099 --> 00:23:58,478 and we need to create a prototype for the present and the future. 430 00:24:06,403 --> 00:24:08,613 [man] Long before I retire, 431 00:24:08,697 --> 00:24:10,866 they say one of the things you do 432 00:24:10,949 --> 00:24:15,495 is not to sit down and watch the TV all the time. 433 00:24:15,579 --> 00:24:19,332 -That make you a potato, a couch potato. -[Dan laughing] 434 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,087 [Tze] Yeah, I know I got to keep both my body and mind active, 435 00:24:24,171 --> 00:24:26,339 have to go out and mix with people. 436 00:24:26,423 --> 00:24:27,340 [Dan] I love that. 437 00:24:27,424 --> 00:24:31,052 And then… Because no man is an island, right? 438 00:24:31,136 --> 00:24:33,472 So you have to be with people 439 00:24:33,555 --> 00:24:34,931 to be happy. 440 00:24:35,015 --> 00:24:37,350 Because then we come to the next element. 441 00:24:37,434 --> 00:24:40,854 If you are not happy, then you cannot live long. 442 00:24:42,898 --> 00:24:47,068 No point living alone, you know, and never speaking to anybody, you know. 443 00:24:47,152 --> 00:24:49,696 -Do you live here with your family? -Yes. 444 00:24:50,197 --> 00:24:55,410 [Dan] Do you think living with your family is helping with your longevity? 445 00:24:55,494 --> 00:24:56,786 [Tze] Definitely, yeah. 446 00:24:56,870 --> 00:25:01,208 They are quite happy that I'm here, and I'm very happy to be here. 447 00:25:01,291 --> 00:25:04,586 My grandchildren, I took the opportunity 448 00:25:04,669 --> 00:25:08,089 to give them tuition in mathematics because I-- 449 00:25:08,173 --> 00:25:11,384 -[Dan] So, you're their tutor? -I'm quite good in mathematics. 450 00:25:11,927 --> 00:25:15,430 And in return, they will help me with the computer 451 00:25:15,514 --> 00:25:17,474 because I'm a computer idiot. 452 00:25:17,557 --> 00:25:21,269 [laughs] Computer idiot? I love that. So yet another two-way street. 453 00:25:21,353 --> 00:25:22,354 [Tze] Yeah. 454 00:25:22,854 --> 00:25:26,525 Oh-two, uh? Now this two becomes six 455 00:25:27,859 --> 00:25:29,528 because it's times three. 456 00:25:30,237 --> 00:25:32,155 [Dan] How does your father contribute to-- 457 00:25:32,239 --> 00:25:36,284 Oh, he helps out with my younger kids, you know, um, 458 00:25:36,368 --> 00:25:38,328 when I was still working full-time. 459 00:25:38,411 --> 00:25:40,247 I'm now doing part-time. 460 00:25:40,330 --> 00:25:45,168 He helped me to bring the younger two home when I'm working late. 461 00:25:46,044 --> 00:25:48,380 Uh, making sure they have good breakfast 462 00:25:48,463 --> 00:25:51,675 because I tend to go very early and kind of rush them for breakfast. 463 00:25:51,758 --> 00:25:53,468 He takes them out for breakfast 464 00:25:53,552 --> 00:25:56,555 before sending them to school for me, yeah? 465 00:25:56,638 --> 00:25:59,099 I'm the strict mom. I'm the… 466 00:25:59,182 --> 00:26:01,768 -[Dan] Tiger mom? -Yeah, the stick mom. 467 00:26:01,851 --> 00:26:05,313 -And he is the carrot grandad. -[Dan] The carrot grandad! I love that! 468 00:26:05,397 --> 00:26:10,193 And he says, "If you do the math and score all correct, you get a dollar." 469 00:26:10,277 --> 00:26:11,444 [Dan] I love that. 470 00:26:12,904 --> 00:26:16,658 Do you think that when you guys become parents 471 00:26:16,741 --> 00:26:19,744 that you'll invite your parents to live with you? 472 00:26:20,870 --> 00:26:24,082 -I guess, yes. -[Dan laughs] 473 00:26:24,165 --> 00:26:26,334 -[Wei] You guess? -[all laughing] 474 00:26:30,255 --> 00:26:34,593 [Chan] When the founding fathers started building Singapore, 475 00:26:34,676 --> 00:26:36,261 we were a young nation there. 476 00:26:36,344 --> 00:26:39,180 There were more young people than there were old people. 477 00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:42,017 But as the society matured, 478 00:26:42,767 --> 00:26:45,937 longevity, aging became an issue. 479 00:26:46,021 --> 00:26:49,065 Now we have an aging problem coming up. 480 00:26:49,149 --> 00:26:52,527 By 2030, 25% of our population, 481 00:26:52,611 --> 00:26:55,780 one in four, will be above 65. 482 00:26:56,948 --> 00:27:00,452 It means, you know, there's stress on your healthcare system. 483 00:27:00,535 --> 00:27:03,288 We are trying to deal with this issue. 484 00:27:03,955 --> 00:27:06,583 You know, the government has been playing with the idea 485 00:27:06,666 --> 00:27:10,879 of how to get children to look after parents 486 00:27:10,962 --> 00:27:12,589 and take care of them. 487 00:27:12,672 --> 00:27:18,887 The government of Singapore has a policy called the Proximity Housing Grant, 488 00:27:18,970 --> 00:27:23,558 which encourages families to live near each other. 489 00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:26,394 You get a sum of money just given to you 490 00:27:26,478 --> 00:27:31,399 if you are parents choosing to live near your son or daughter 491 00:27:31,483 --> 00:27:34,903 or your son or daughter chooses an apartment 492 00:27:34,986 --> 00:27:37,656 in a public housing estate near you. 493 00:27:37,739 --> 00:27:41,159 If children look after their parents, 494 00:27:41,242 --> 00:27:44,079 it means people don't get sick that often. 495 00:27:44,996 --> 00:27:49,793 [Dan] A study called Aging Alone in America reported that 100 years ago, 496 00:27:49,876 --> 00:27:54,839 70% of American widows and widowers moved in with their families. 497 00:27:54,923 --> 00:28:00,512 Today nearly the same proportion of widows and widowers live alone. 498 00:28:00,595 --> 00:28:02,764 Singapore's Proximity Housing Grant 499 00:28:02,847 --> 00:28:06,017 is succeeding in combating that kind of trend. 500 00:28:06,601 --> 00:28:10,939 Between 2015 and 2018, the Housing Development Board 501 00:28:11,022 --> 00:28:14,025 announced that some 11,000 households 502 00:28:14,109 --> 00:28:18,405 have bought resale apartments near their parents or married children 503 00:28:18,488 --> 00:28:21,825 with the help of the Proximity Housing Grant. 504 00:28:22,784 --> 00:28:28,790 We know in the United States when you put an older parent in a retirement home, 505 00:28:28,873 --> 00:28:32,127 their life expectancy drops between two and six years. 506 00:28:32,627 --> 00:28:36,548 So there's a genius in this idea 507 00:28:36,631 --> 00:28:40,677 that you're not forcing Mom and Dad to live with you, 508 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,596 but you incent them to live nearby, 509 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,598 which is not only good for the family, 510 00:28:46,599 --> 00:28:48,768 it adds life expectancy. 511 00:28:52,564 --> 00:28:56,151 If you scroll through social media or look at #longevity, 512 00:28:56,234 --> 00:28:59,904 in America anyway, it's always about anti-aging drugs 513 00:28:59,988 --> 00:29:02,490 and diet and exercise programs. 514 00:29:03,575 --> 00:29:07,245 But the United States is the most prosperous country 515 00:29:07,328 --> 00:29:09,122 in the history of the world. 516 00:29:09,205 --> 00:29:12,417 Yet three-quarters of us are overweight or obese. 517 00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:16,171 Happiness has dropped. Life expectancy has dropped. 518 00:29:16,254 --> 00:29:19,299 Is what Singapore doing now, is it scalable? 519 00:29:19,382 --> 00:29:21,801 -Could the United States, for example… -Um… 520 00:29:22,469 --> 00:29:27,307 I… You know, I often say Singapore is sui generis, one of its kind. 521 00:29:27,390 --> 00:29:29,392 [lively electronic music playing] 522 00:29:33,938 --> 00:29:35,732 [Chan] We are a small nation. 523 00:29:35,815 --> 00:29:39,527 It's really a city-state, you know, and so it helps. 524 00:29:39,611 --> 00:29:44,616 You know, the city can write free trade agreements. 525 00:29:44,699 --> 00:29:45,950 You can negotiate. 526 00:29:46,034 --> 00:29:51,122 But some measures perhaps could be borrowed. 527 00:29:51,206 --> 00:29:56,544 First, you have to have a vision and a desire and have those objectives. 528 00:29:56,628 --> 00:29:59,881 Then you have to have people that have an investment 529 00:30:01,007 --> 00:30:05,136 in providing healthy lives, healthy families. 530 00:30:05,220 --> 00:30:09,098 How do you create this public-private partnership? 531 00:30:10,683 --> 00:30:13,728 I think if you can tell Americans 532 00:30:13,812 --> 00:30:17,690 that "I can help you reduce your healthcare costs," 533 00:30:17,774 --> 00:30:20,151 I think half your battle is won. 534 00:30:20,235 --> 00:30:23,363 So you make the economic argument to produce a human benefit. 535 00:30:23,446 --> 00:30:25,865 -[Chan] Right. -[Dan] Such a powerful idea. 536 00:30:28,076 --> 00:30:33,373 What Singapore teaches us is you can make enormous changes population-wide. 537 00:30:33,456 --> 00:30:37,502 And I believe that, arguably, the most powerful tool we have 538 00:30:37,585 --> 00:30:40,922 at shaping healthier environments is through policy, 539 00:30:41,005 --> 00:30:43,383 and that's the lesson America needs to learn. 540 00:30:44,551 --> 00:30:47,804 We need to identify the good policies and implement. 541 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:52,767 [pensive music playing] 542 00:30:55,854 --> 00:31:00,358 After proving a Blue Zones approach could work in a small town, Albert Lea, 543 00:31:00,441 --> 00:31:02,443 then I decided to scale it. 544 00:31:03,152 --> 00:31:06,281 And we discovered that insurance companies 545 00:31:06,364 --> 00:31:09,492 and hospital systems and private foundations 546 00:31:09,576 --> 00:31:13,913 were willing to make the investment in keeping cities healthier. 547 00:31:13,997 --> 00:31:17,250 We were then able to take the Blue Zone project from Albert Lea 548 00:31:17,333 --> 00:31:21,296 to the beach cities of Los Angeles, to the whole state of Iowa. 549 00:31:22,338 --> 00:31:25,008 The Blue Zones project continues to roll out 550 00:31:25,091 --> 00:31:27,135 easier ways to be healthy where you live. 551 00:31:27,218 --> 00:31:30,638 [Dan] But it wasn't until Fort Worth, Cowtown, 552 00:31:30,722 --> 00:31:34,767 that we showed that this could really work anywhere in America. 553 00:31:36,185 --> 00:31:40,565 We met the mayor, the city council, the superintendent of schools… 554 00:31:40,648 --> 00:31:44,152 [reporter] Fort Worth's child obesity rates have dropped 6%. 555 00:31:44,235 --> 00:31:47,280 A Gallup Poll of America's healthiest city says, 556 00:31:47,363 --> 00:31:49,908 "Cowtown is changing its tune." 557 00:31:52,619 --> 00:31:53,995 [Dan] And after five years, 558 00:31:54,078 --> 00:31:57,457 Gallup calculated that we saved that city 559 00:31:57,540 --> 00:32:01,586 more than a quarter of a billion dollars a year in projected healthcare costs. 560 00:32:01,669 --> 00:32:05,840 So I realized that how we applied Blue Zone wisdom 561 00:32:05,924 --> 00:32:08,092 is ten times more important 562 00:32:08,176 --> 00:32:10,511 than having identified it in the first place. 563 00:32:14,390 --> 00:32:17,644 What Blue Zones has now done is go into communities 564 00:32:17,727 --> 00:32:22,023 that are interested in creating a better environment. 565 00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:26,527 So we're here in South Phoenix, launching a Blue Zone project. 566 00:32:26,611 --> 00:32:30,073 Any Blue Zone community begins with listening. 567 00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:32,867 The next step is to make permanent 568 00:32:32,951 --> 00:32:35,828 or semi-permanent changes to their surroundings. 569 00:32:36,537 --> 00:32:40,291 I'd love to hear where in your neighborhoods 570 00:32:40,375 --> 00:32:45,880 we can make it better for human beings so the healthy choice is the easy choice. 571 00:32:46,756 --> 00:32:50,969 We had a whole busload of experts, and we started just by doing assessment. 572 00:32:52,387 --> 00:32:55,223 You know, I would argue this is the best team in America. 573 00:32:55,848 --> 00:32:57,517 I would like to now challenge you 574 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:03,022 to tell us how we're gonna really raise the happiness level, 575 00:33:03,106 --> 00:33:05,024 raise the life expectancy. 576 00:33:05,692 --> 00:33:09,112 We have this open space. What do we do with it? 577 00:33:09,195 --> 00:33:10,530 [Marion] Make a park! 578 00:33:10,613 --> 00:33:13,658 A place where the community could come together, 579 00:33:13,741 --> 00:33:15,994 where you could have gardens. 580 00:33:16,077 --> 00:33:17,996 You know, you could have community gardens 581 00:33:18,079 --> 00:33:22,500 that are going to make it possible for them to appreciate healthier food, 582 00:33:22,583 --> 00:33:24,419 but people have to learn how to do that. 583 00:33:24,502 --> 00:33:25,795 They have to have the seeds, 584 00:33:25,878 --> 00:33:30,383 and there has to be somebody who encourages this kind of thing. 585 00:33:30,466 --> 00:33:33,553 You only have one choice, and that's to go out to a busy street. 586 00:33:33,636 --> 00:33:35,471 People won't walk. 587 00:33:35,555 --> 00:33:38,016 This used to be a primary route. 588 00:33:38,099 --> 00:33:41,227 It had to carry 40,000 cars before they had the freeways. 589 00:33:41,310 --> 00:33:44,564 So today it doesn't carry anywhere near that traffic. 590 00:33:44,647 --> 00:33:48,901 If we could take out all the lanes except for one in each direction, 591 00:33:49,861 --> 00:33:51,946 now the sidewalks become usable. 592 00:33:53,031 --> 00:33:55,450 [Dan Buettner] Cities have amazing power. 593 00:33:56,367 --> 00:33:58,536 If you have clear objectives, 594 00:33:58,619 --> 00:34:02,498 in just a handful of years, they can make complete transformations. 595 00:34:02,582 --> 00:34:06,878 America, within the next ten years, could be a Blue Zone. 596 00:34:06,961 --> 00:34:09,630 All we have to do is shift the focus 597 00:34:09,714 --> 00:34:14,010 from thinking that we're gonna change 330 million people's minds 598 00:34:14,677 --> 00:34:16,054 to changing their environment. 599 00:34:23,978 --> 00:34:26,564 [curious music playing] 600 00:34:36,449 --> 00:34:37,533 [Dan] Imagine a community 601 00:34:37,617 --> 00:34:41,579 where the cheapest, most accessible, and most delicious foods 602 00:34:41,662 --> 00:34:43,039 are whole, plant-based foods. 603 00:34:43,122 --> 00:34:46,876 Imagine roads that are not just built for cars, 604 00:34:46,959 --> 00:34:48,961 but they're also built for humans. 605 00:34:49,045 --> 00:34:52,548 Where it's easy to connect and socialize, 606 00:34:52,632 --> 00:34:56,969 where people are putting their purpose to work every day. 607 00:34:57,053 --> 00:35:01,182 These are all things that Blue Zones teach us are attainable. 608 00:35:03,518 --> 00:35:05,019 We have a new lens 609 00:35:05,103 --> 00:35:09,690 to look at how to generate health and well-being in our country, 610 00:35:09,774 --> 00:35:12,485 a legitimate recipe for longevity. 611 00:35:12,985 --> 00:35:16,572 But at the end of the day, the big epiphany 612 00:35:16,656 --> 00:35:20,952 is that the same things that help us live a long, healthy life 613 00:35:21,953 --> 00:35:25,164 are the things that make life worth living. 614 00:35:25,248 --> 00:35:27,250 [uplifting music playing] 615 00:35:31,754 --> 00:35:33,756 [gentle music playing]