In the early 1500s the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon searched what is now Florida seeking a magical fountain of youth that Indians had told him would restore youth to aging people.
His search, of course, ended in failure.
Efforts to combat aging and the diseases often accompanying it did not end with Ponce de Leon.
A distinguished group of gerobiologists (biologists specializing in aging research) analyzed these claims.
The best available "fountain" gained attention in 1979 when it was estimated that 50 percent of adult deaths in the United States were the result of unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors.
Since then, health professionals have emphasized the importance for people of all ages to engage in health-promoting behaviors, such as regular exercising and eating nutritious foods.
The subscales are spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, nutrition, physical activity, health responsibility, and stress management.
The older group scored significantly higher than the young or middle-aged group on health responsibility and nutrition, and higher than the young group but not the middle-age group for interpersonal relations.
The older group's physical activity scores were significantly lower than those for the young group, but significantly higher than those for the middle-age group.
For the total participants the association between scores on each subscale and self-reported health was statistically significant, and did not differ among the age groups.
What is surprising is that many middle-aged adults appear to live even more sedentary lives.