If wisdom comes with age, perhaps Americans had better start pursuing relationships instead of bucks. Children, friends and relatives, not money, are life`s most precious possessions, according to a study of people more than 100 years old.
Colonial Penn Group, a life insurance company, conducted the survey of 200 of its policy holders who had lived more than a century. Results revealed that the elderly subjects had surprisingly low esteem for material possessions.
Besides personal relationships, those studied mentioned good health, mobility and outside activities among the most important elements in life. Their greatest fears were living in nursing homes, lingering illnesses and losing their independence.
Asked what invention had most changed their lives, about a third of the centenarians said the automobile. The airplane ran a close second, with television and electricity tied for third.
Fat phobics
Fifty-five percent of the women responding to Psychology Today magazine`s ”body image” survey were dissatisfied with their weight. The National Center for Health Statistics corroborated that finding with a study showing that 54 percent of women felt overweight.
Meanwhile, the study ”Trends in Nurtrition IV,” commissioned by Conde Nast Publications, found that at one time or another over the last year 50 percent of American women have been on a diet. Three-quarters of them decided to diet on their own. The others were ordered to do so by their doctors.
On the other hand, a third of American women are part of a phenomenon called ”grazing,” which means they eat ”only when hungry.”
Hamsterobics
Mature golden hamsters who exercise regularly grow as much as 50 percent heavier and 20 percent longer than those who are sedentary, a University of Michigan researcher reports.
Gourmet hygeine
More Top Picks Best Mens Watches Under 3500
In the expensive gadget department, Larry White of Hobbs, N.M., offers the ultimate tooth cleaning machine–the $15 ”Bio-Brush.” Pressure sensitive, it flashes a light when the brusher applies the correct force to his teeth. Many people don`t brush hard enough, White says.
There are no flashing lights on the portable sink, reported recently in Popular Science magazine, but it is certainly high tech, or low, depending on your stature. The one-size-fits-all basin attaches to the wall through hinged plumbing that raises and lowers its height to accommodate adults, children and people in wheelchairs. Yours for $1,000.
Red fallout
Russian soldiers in the town nearest the Chernobyl nuclear accident have adopted stray animals as pets and given them hot new names, a Soviet newspaper said.
There`s a calf named ”Isotope,” a puppy called ”Roentgen,” and a kitten christened ”Radiation.”