Do Children of Long-Lived Parents Age More Successfully? Henrik Frederiksen, 1 Matt McGue, 2 Bernard Jeune, 1 David Gaist, 1 Hanne Nybo, 1 Axel Skytthe, 3 James W. Vaupel, 4 and Kaare Christensen 1,3 Background. Long-lived individuals are rare and may be se- lected in part for the genetic factors that promote successful aging. The children of long-lived parents may therefore age more successfully than the children of short-lived parents. Methods. We used three major cross-sectional population- based surveys to study the association of parental longevity with successful aging in offspring. The measures of aging were hand-grip strength, cognitive performance (Mini Mental State Examination and a cognitive composite score), self-reported diseases, and self-rated health. Results. For every additional 10 years the parents lived, their children’s grip strength increased by 0.32 kg (95% CI = 0.00 – 0.63), Mini Mental State Examination score by 0.20 points (95% CI = 0.03– 0.37), and cognitive composite score by 0.24 points (95% CI = 0.07– 0.40). A 10-year increment of parental life was associated with a reduction by approximately 0.20 in the adjusted odds ratio for their children having each of the following conditions: diabetes; hypertension; ischemic heart disease; heart failure; stroke; or fair, poor, or very poor self-rated health. Almost all the effects were seen solely in the cohort of 70+-year-olds, but not among middle-aged or nona- genarian subjects. Conclusions. Parental life span is positively associated with the children’s physical and cognitive functioning and avoid- ance of some of the common chronic diseases. However, the effects are small and are seen among offspring who are elderly, but not among the middle-aged or the oldest old. (EPIDEMIOLOGY 2002;13:334 –339) Key words: aging, twins, oldest-old, parents, longevity, hand strength, cognition. M aintenance of high physical and cognitive functioning and avoidance of disease and dis- ability are central to “successful” aging. 1 Ever since Rowe and Kahn 1 introduced the concept of suc- cessful aging, a number of mainly environmental predic- tors (eg, education, income, social network, physical activity, and smoking status) have been shown to influ- ence the components of successful aging. 2,3 In recent years, researchers have also begun to investigate the contribution of genetic factors to successful aging. 4–6 Studies of elderly twins suggest that genetic factors ac- count for a substantial proportion of the variance in physical 7 and cognitive 8,9 functioning, and a moderate proportion of variance in life span. 10 An important ge- netic component to some of the major diseases of aging, such as cardiovascular diseases, 11 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, 12 and some cancers (breast, prostate, and colorectal), 13 has also been found. Long-lived indi- viduals are rare and may be selected in part for the genetic factors that promote successful aging. The chil- dren of long-lived parents may therefore age more suc- cessfully than the children of short-lived parents. What- ever the mechanism, not much is known about the interplay between parental longevity and the aging of offspring. Here we use three major Danish nationwide surveys of middle-aged, elderly, and oldest-old people to study the association of parental life span with the re- spondents’ physical and cognitive functioning, as well as specific illnesses. Methods Sample The sample comprised participants in three nation- wide population-based surveys: the Study of Middle- Aged Danish Twins (MADT), 14 the Longitudinal Study From the 1 Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology, and 3 Danish Center for Demographic Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense; 2 Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; and 4 Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany. Address correspondence to: Henrik Frederiksen, Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology, University of Southern Denmark, Sdr. Boulevard 23A, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark; hfrederiksen@health.sdu.dk Supported by U.S. National Institute on Aging Research Grant NIA-PO1- AG08761, Sygekassernes Helsefond Grant 11/2 12-97, and the Danish National Research Foundation. Submitted 3 July 2001; final version accepted 9 January 2002. Copyright © 2002 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. 334