Teulada new Blue zone . Yes, the Municipality of Sulcis, the one where the presence of the shooting range is an ongoing process due to environmental disaster, officially enters the list of island centers with a high longevity index.
Teulada has obtained recognition from the "Sardinia Blue zone", the longevity observatory founded in 2015 by president Claudia Porcu and which makes use of the scientific contribution of Gianni Pes , the epidemiologist from the University of Sassari who is responsible for the existence of the Blue Zone in Sardinia.
About twenty years have passed since Pes began studying mortality on the island, and therefore the presence and distribution of centenarians. Of studies and research, from which it emerges that the initial cluster of Blue zone municipalities, i.e. the grouping formed by Arzana, Baunei, Talana, Urzulei and Villagrande Strisaili plus the nearby Seulo, in the homonymous area, is no longer identifiable with northern Ogliastra alone Barbagia. «Indeed», Pes clarifies, «the data shows that Arzachena could also be identified as a land of longevity. The same goes for Mores and other centers in Montiferru ." In short, the Blue Zone perimeter is experiencing an expansive phase with the continuation of research work.
Sardinian centenarians, therefore, do not only live in the mountains. «We analyzed the longevity index in Teulada because it is one of the municipalities that provided us with the data, responding to our request, which was also addressed to all 377 centers on the island. ». Porcu, together with Pes, is one of the speakers at a conference where we will talk about genetics and nutrition , given that long life is not only written in DNA, but above all seems to be a factor determined by lifestyle and table habits .
«Our studies», explains Pes, «start from the population registers of the Municipalities which have been obliged to register births and deaths since 1866». The professor then explains the working method and underlines: « The starting data for calculating longevity is the regional average . Arzana, Baunei, Seulo, Talana, Urzulei and Villagrande Strisaili set the example because there the low mortality rate differed by up to twenty basis points compared to the average value recorded in Sardinia ".
Pes is also the father of the "Blue zone" definition, because «during my studies I underlined with a blue marker the municipalities that appeared to have high longevity indices» . Not only that: the epidemiologist himself exported the calculation model outside the island , "financed by a National Geographic project". It all began with a reportage made by the scientific journalist Dan Buettner, who became passionate about the Sardinia case. From there the traces of longevity found in Okinawa in Japan, in Nicoya in Costa Rica and in Icaria in Greece.
Mayor Milia explains the details of the conference: «The collaboration between the Municipality and the Observatory for Longevity has been ongoing since 2021 through the Registry Office. Teulada's data is first-rate: we currently have nine centenarians out of 3,300 inhabitants , of which one, Pietrino Culurgioni, has reached the threshold of 106 years. This shows that our territory is not compromised, as is too often said."
