Are you older or younger than your years?

Date published: 3/25/2007

By JESSICA SIMON

If you look at her birth certificate, you'll see that Jane Zentz is 57 years old. But Zentz can claim a more youthful age if she wants to. An online quiz said she has the health of a 46-year-old.

Two years ago, Zentz discovered RealAge.com, a Web site offering a free test to determine the biological, or "real," age of the body based on family health history, nutrition, lifestyle and other factors.

Zentz, an at-home wife, mother and grandmother from Bourbon, Ind., was 55 years old then. And she was disappointed to find, when she took the test for the first time, that her "real" age was 59.5.

The result motivated her to develop a healthier lifestyle--the lifestyle that has since changed her "real" age to 46.

"I now have a fruit basket on my countertop instead of cookies," Zentz said of the changes she made after her first RealAge quiz. "I never ate fruit before, but now eat five servings a day and I love it."

The RealAge program doesn't just give out an age. It also gives participants explanations of the lifestyle habits that are making them seem younger or older than their years. From those explanations, Zentz said she learned some motivational lessons.

"[The program] taught how exercise is so important," Zentz said. "I get up and exercise first thing in the morning."

The program was created in 1999 by Dr. Michael Roizen and a scientific advisory board of medical doctors, scientists and epidemiologists. The test is based on more than 35,000 scientific studies on aging. These factors determine a person's "real age," or how old or young their body feels, based on the answers to more than 100 questions.

The questions range from whether you smoke to whether you get enough calcium to whether you wear a seat belt--a reflection of how risky behaviors affect life span.

"I have learned so much about my body, how it works and how to be younger biologically even though my age is older chronologically," Zentz said.

The concept of biological aging has been around since the 1940s, said Dr. Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, head of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For insight into your body's aging process, try out a free test at realage.com. The test quizzes you on things like your: eating habits driving habits stress levels After a brief wait, you'll get results--i.e., your "real" age, plus an analysis of your health. You can get more health tips e-mailed to you if you wish. IS IT VALID? Check out the "Our Science" section of the realage.com Web site for information on how the test was designed. The site also lists the credentials of those on the RealAge Scientific Advisory Board.

Date published: 3/25/2007