80/20 Just Might Be the Forgotten Golden Rule for Happier Aging
Dave McCaughan, Storyteller at BIBLIOSEXUAL
MUSH !!
Can you imagine a life where breakfast, lunch and dinner is and always will be just mush. Soft, light, no texture, probably limited flavour. Forever.
While we talk a lot about longevity and ageing well these days we often forget that for most of human history mush was there final meals. And the reason for that : oral care, or the lack of. While the discussions about longevity and quality of life and ageing well cover many areas we maybe talk too little about teeth. Or the lack of them.
Eating happily is key to aging well.
We all know that life expectancy used to be short. In all cultures living past 40 or 50 was seen as an achievement. We often forget that a key contributor to what we would call middle aged death was something called periodontal disease. The gums loosen and your teeth fall out. No teeth, harder to eat, less choice of food, less nutrition and also less enjoyment of life. A diet of just mush is just depressing.
As happens in so many things Japan was and has been a leader in focusing on avoiding a shorter, more miserable aging with no teeth.
When I first lived in Japan in 2004 I was introduced to GUM a leading oral care brand that took a unique approach. In the 1980s the owner had been introduced to research that indicated that periodontal disease was the leading cause of “older people”, as in those over 60, ending up with no teeth and a poorer outlook to their eating options. So the brand started infusing their toothpaste with anti-periodontal ingredients that would be easily absorbed through the users gums along with clear, somewhat stark, advertising illustrating how it worked and how a life time of using such a product would result in a happier, longer eating life. The other big oral care brand in Japan, Lion, did the same. The result now being that something like 80 market share of toothpaste in Japan are brands focused on reducing periodontal disease.
Which maybe helps explain why in any international survey of the “which country has the healthiest teeth” kind Japan in always near the top. And it also fits well with the 8020 policy that the Japanese government introduced over 25 years ago. Working with dental associations and others the policy aims to ensure that people 80 years old or more have at least 20 of the natural teeth. In the years since it started the policy has seen the number of octogenarians achieving that goal move from 10% to over 50%.
Keep your teeth and enjoy life.
While working in Japan I managed to oversee the advertising strategy for a few oral care brands. The most successful American brand was Listerine. Mouth rinsing had taken off in the 1990s with the two big local brands and Listerine dominating the market. By around 2010 the market had penetrated near every one under 60. But somehow those over that age group had missed out on the trend. A simple tactic opened up those potential users by appealing to the universal desire to “keep eating well”.
In Japan, like many markets, it is the fate of middle-aged women to help older parents and in-laws with simple life actions. Often a women (yes it is sexist but a reality for now ) in her 50s will be helping doing the shopping for parents in their late 70s and beyond. Now maybe you are not aware of this but research has shown that Japanese grocery shoppers are the most likely in the world to read the back of packs. You know all that small print most of us gloss over. Well when we changed a single line of that copy on the back of Listerine packaging to say something like “daily use of mouthwash helps reduce periodontal disease and tooth loss in old age” we saw sales climb. Because every one wants the people they care for to keep on eating happily.
Living better lives longer means being able to eat and enjoy food.
Like my wife’s friend Kay. In the 20 years they have known each other Kay, who is now well in to her 80s, has maintained a lifestyle habit we would all like. Every Thursday she eats lunch at a new place. A new café or restaurant she has not tried before. Now when you live in Tokyo that is more than possible, the biggest city in the world offer all kinds of eating options. And why would Kay or anyone else want to miss that opportunity.
Of course times have changed. When your great grand parents lost all their teeth the diet became porridge, or congee or something similar. Over mashed vegetables anyone ?? And of course, in more recent decades it might be a diet of prepared baby foods, or their equivalent. Again not surprising that in the worlds oldest population market Japanese companies are again leading the way with developing better tasting, mildly textured foods for people no longer able to chew or use their teeth.
BUT … the focus is on keeping your teeth and keeping your chances of chewing and exploring food as long as possible.
Japan has had laws making mandatory annual oral care check ups for children for many years. There is also a compulsory general health check up for all company workers in the country. Now there are plans to include mandatory annual dental check ups for all workers. All part of extending the 8020 policy to ensure that all Japanese people reach a point of ageing well with teeth.
