A recent analysis of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study showed that children of parents who live to old age are less likely to develop cancer and other age-related diseases, and thus likely to have lower mortality rates. Kenneth Langa and colleagues found overall mortality rates dropped by up to 19% for each decade that at least one of the parents lived past the age of 65. Langa says that more research is needed to probe the nature of the association: “The considerable benefits that we found in our study—both in terms of decreased cancer risk and longer life-span—need to be followed up and confirmed in additional studies with more detailed genetic information so we can better pinpoint the potential links between healthy long-lived parents and their healthy long-lived kids.” [Paper available online.](http://biomedgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/16/gerona.glt061)

More about Langa says genetic data could clarify link between long-lived parents and healthy adult children found in HRS analysis >