Centenarians' offspring exhibited delayed onset of mortality and several morbidities as well as reduced age-associated risk for several morbidities, supporting the value of using this group as a research model for identifying factors that may promote healthy aging.
Key Findings
Results
Centenarians' offspring had a significantly reduced hazard of death compared to control offspring, with an aggregate hazard ratio of 0.58.
Meta-analysis across three independent cohorts yielded an aggregate HR of 0.58 (95% CI, 0.41-0.81) for death
Expected age at death was delayed by 3.12 years (95% CI, 0.96-5.28 years) in centenarians' offspring
Cohorts included LonGenity (n=480), NECS (n=1566), and UK Biobank (n=1984)
Cox proportional hazards regression modeling was used to estimate hazard ratios and delays in expected age of incidence
Results
Centenarians' offspring had a significantly reduced hazard of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to controls.
Aggregate HR for CVD was 0.67 (95% CI, 0.46-0.97) across meta-analyses of the three cohorts
No specific delay in years of CVD onset was reported as statistically significant in the abstract
This finding was consistent across independent cohorts in the meta-analysis
Results
Centenarians' offspring had a significantly reduced hazard of hypertension and a delayed onset of hypertension compared to controls.
Aggregate HR for hypertension was 0.68 (95% CI, 0.62-0.75), the most precisely estimated outcome
Expected age at onset of hypertension was delayed by 5.21 years (95% CI, 2.13-8.29 years) in centenarians' offspring
Hypertension showed the largest delay in years of onset among the morbidities examined
Results
Reduced stroke hazard in centenarians' offspring was observed in two of three cohorts but was not consistent across all cohorts.
Stroke HR was 0.27 (95% CI, 0.09-0.81) in LonGenity and 0.41 (95% CI, 0.27-0.63) in NECS
No significant association with stroke was identified in the UK Biobank cohort
The inconsistency across cohorts precluded a robust meta-analytic conclusion for stroke
Results
No significant associations between parental centenarian longevity and cancer risk or onset were identified in any cohort.
Cancer was one of four age-associated morbidities evaluated alongside CVD, hypertension, and stroke
The null finding for cancer was consistent across all three independent cohorts
This contrasts with the significant protective associations found for CVD, hypertension, and mortality
Methods
Three independent longitudinal cohorts spanning different geographic regions and enrollment periods were used to evaluate transgenerational patterns of healthy aging.
LonGenity enrolled participants 2008-2024 in the New York City area (n=480; median enrollment age 74 years; 245 offspring of centenarians)
NECS enrolled participants 1995-2024 throughout the US (n=1566; median enrollment age 71 years; 1082 offspring of centenarians)
UK Biobank enrolled participants 2006-2022 throughout the UK (n=1984; median enrollment age 65 years; 992 offspring of centenarians)
Centenarians' offspring were defined as having at least one parent who reached age 100 years
Data were analyzed between July 2024 and June 2026
Conclusions
The study supports the suitability of parental longevity as a criterion for selecting participants in prospective studies of resilience and healthy aging.
Findings were consistent across three independent cohorts, strengthening the generalizability of conclusions
Authors conclude that centenarians' offspring represent a valuable research model for identifying genetic and environmental factors promoting healthy aging
Parental centenarian longevity is proposed as an appropriate selection criterion for future prospective resilience studies
What This Means
This research suggests that people who have at least one parent who lived to age 100 or older tend to live longer themselves and develop certain age-related diseases later in life compared to people whose parents had shorter lifespans. The study examined three separate groups of participants in the United States and United Kingdom, totaling more than 4,000 people, and found that children of centenarians had about a 42% lower risk of dying during the study period, a 33% lower risk of heart disease, and a 32% lower risk of high blood pressure. On average, death came about 3 years later and high blood pressure onset came about 5 years later in the children of centenarians. Reduced stroke risk was also seen in two of the three groups studied, though the finding was not consistent across all three. Notably, no protective effect against cancer was found.
The consistency of these findings across three independent research studies conducted in different locations and time periods strengthens confidence that having a long-lived parent genuinely confers health advantages into old age — not just longer life, but a delay in when serious diseases begin. This pattern suggests that factors passed down from exceptionally long-lived parents — whether genetic, lifestyle-related, or both — help compress the period of illness and disability toward the very end of life rather than allowing it to extend across many years.
This research suggests that children of centenarians are a particularly useful group for scientists studying how to promote healthy aging, because their delayed disease onset makes it easier to identify what biological and lifestyle factors contribute to aging well. The findings also support using 'having a centenarian parent' as a practical way to select participants for future studies focused on resilience to aging-related disease.
Reed E, Wysocki M, Gal M, Aleksic S, Gao T, Barzilai N, et al.. (2026). Exceptional Parental Longevity and Onset of Morbidity and Mortality Across Cohorts.. JAMA network open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.30964