Aging IQ Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
1 min
Aging IQ Quiz
Image: Lucia Lambriex/Taxi/Getty Images

About This Quiz

How much do you know about aging? Test your knowledge with this IQ quiz.
Who remarked, "Old age is no place for sissies?"
Greta Garbo
Phyllis Diller
Bette Davis
Lauren Bacall
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bette Davis said, "Old age is no place for sissies."

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The current life expectancy at birth for an American is:
82.3 years
76.9 years
72.5 years
79.1 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

According to an October 2001 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average life expectancy in the US is 76.9 years.

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More than 15 percent of Americans say they eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, maintain a normal body weight and don't smoke:
True
False
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Actually, only a tiny minority follows a truly healthy lifestyle. A survey of more than 4,000 adults conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Michigan Department of Community Health revealed that a mere 3 percent eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, don't smoke and maintain a normal body weight.

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The country where you are likely to live the longest is:
Norway
Canada
Australia
Japan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Japan has the highest average life expectancy at birth — 81 years, followed by Singapore (80) and several other developed countries: Australia, Canada, Italy, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland (79). That data is from the US Census Bureau and National Institute on Aging report, An Aging World: 2001.

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The percent of Americans taking dietary supplements daily is:
40
25
50
35
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some 40 percent of Americans take nutritional supplements, spending a whopping 1.7 billion dollars annually. Vitamins C, B12, B6, niacin, thiamin, B2, E, A, D, and folic acid top the list.

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The most popular cosmetic procedure in the US is:
eyelid surgery
liposuction
breast augmentation
botox injections
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

According to the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, some 229,558 of us went under the knife last year to remove fat; 172,244 improved their eyes; 187,755 augmented breasts; 118,452 smoothed wrinkles with botox injections.

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The number of centenarians in the US stands at about:
700
7,000
70,000
700,000
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The centenarian population could number 834,000 by the middle of the next century.

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Which food contains the highest concentration of disease-fighting antioxidants?
kale
soy beans
blueberries
broccoli
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

USDA researchers recently analyzed the antioxidant level of 39 fruits and vegetables and found that blueberries took the no. 1 spot.

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Eating chocolate prevents heart disease:
True
False
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Yep, chocolate lovers, a 10-year-long study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that elderly men who ate the most catechins were 51 percent less likely to die from heart disease, compared to men who consumed the least. Catechins are plant compounds found in chocolate, black and green tea and apples.

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Medical errors by physicians kill 100,000 every year:
True
False
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The figure is 44,000, according to a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences. The total is more than the number of people who die annually from breast cancer, highway accidents, or AIDS. Meanwhile, it has been estimated that up to 100, 000 people die each year in hospitals from adverse reactions to prescription drugs.

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When Social Security was initiated in 1935, average life expectancy was:
58
63
70
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

But today, 65-year-old retirees can expect to get government checks for many years.

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Benjamin Franklin was this age when he helped frame the American Constitution:
60
70
80
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Franklin died four years after helping to frame the Constitution, at the ripe old age of 84.

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What former president wrote the book The Virtues of Aging?
Theodore Roosevelt
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

One chapter opened with the quip: "Anybody who can still do at 60 what he was doing at 20 wasn't doing much at 20."

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The biblical figure Methuselah is said to have lived to what ripe old age?
969
257
100
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The name of this Hebrew patriarch has come to mean "longevity."

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Once they reach age 60, people should have a routine physical exam:
Twice a year
Once every two years
Once a year
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

What's more, Mayo Clinic doctors recommend a physical once every two years for people aged 50 to 60.

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You Got:
/15
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