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By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — If you want to live a long and healthy life, you’d be better off in South Korea than the United States.

In the 1980s, our country was about average in terms of life expectancy for developed nations. But since then much of the world has improved, and the United States has dropped toward the bottom of that list.

On the other side of the world, life expectancy has been growing fast in South Korea, with a massive leap of 7.94 years from 2000 to 2021, according to the World Health Organization.

What South Koreans are doing right and what Americans can learn when it comes to longevity boils down to actions you can incorporate now.

More vegetables at all ages

When journalist Kara Swisher visited a South Korean school at lunchtime, she said she was surprised by what she saw on students’ trays: lettuce wraps, radish-chive salad, kimchi and seasonal fruit. Those are not necessarily what her own young children would reach for, she said.

But throughout their time in school, Korean children are provided a free school lunch, which is tailored for both nutrition and education by a school nutritionist, Yeonju Kim, a school nutritionist, told Swisher.

In 2023, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly half of kids ages 1 to 5 don’t eat a vegetable every day, and a third don’t eat a daily fruit, citing a survey of parents.

And the problem isn’t just picky kids –– it persists into adulthood. Nearly half of American adults eat a poor-quality diet, according to a 2025 study. The quality of their diet was evaluated against the American Heart Association’s primary diet score, which favors diets that are high in fruits and vegetables, made with whole grains, healthy proteins and fats with minimally processed foods.

Diets high in these areas, including MIND and Mediterranean eating, have been associated with both living longer and lowering the risk for cognitive decline in later years. (The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.)

It can be hard to feel the impacts of healthy eating in the moment, but over time the results are apparent.

Activity of all kinds

When it comes to studying South Korean “SuperAgers” — older adults with cognitive abilities expected in people decades younger — some of the most influential lifestyle factors have been physical exercise, social interaction and new, challenging activities, said Dr. Geon-Ha Kim, a neuroscientist at Ewha Womans University Medical Center in Seoul.

For lessons on activity, Swisher spoke with the social media star known as “Korea Grandma,” Park Mak-rye. The 79-year-old shares her healthy cooking recipes, skin care regime and exercise routines online. Those elements, in addition to her close group of friends, are keys to her health, she told Swisher.

The data on activity of all kinds is clear.

Regular exercise that increases your heart and breathing rate has been associated with an up to 40% decreased risk of early death. Those who experience loneliness and social isolation had a 32% increased risk of dying early from any cause, according to a 2023 study. And engaging with a

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — If you want to live a long and healthy life, you’d be better off in South Korea than the United States.

In the 1980s, our country was about average in terms of life expectancy for developed nations. But since then much of the world has improved, and the United States has dropped toward the bottom of that list.

On the other side of the world, life expectancy has been growing fast in South Korea, with a massive leap of 7.94 years from 2000 to 2021, according to the World Health Organization.

What South Koreans are doing right and what Americans can learn when it comes to longevity boils down to actions you can incorporate now.

More vegetables at all ages

When journalist Kara Swisher visited a South Korean school at lunchtime, she said she was surprised by what she saw on students’ trays: lettuce wraps, radish-chive salad, kimchi and seasonal fruit. Those are not necessarily what her own young children would reach for, she said.

But throughout their time in school, Korean children are provided a free school lunch, which is tailored for both nutrition and education by a school nutritionist, Yeonju Kim, a school nutritionist, told Swisher.

In 2023, a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly half of kids ages 1 to 5 don’t eat a vegetable every day, and a third don’t eat a daily fruit, citing a survey of parents.

And the problem isn’t just picky kids –– it persists into adulthood. Nearly half of American adults eat a poor-quality diet, according to a 2025 study. The quality of their diet was evaluated against the American Heart Association’s primary diet score, which favors diets that are high in fruits and vegetables, made with whole grains, healthy proteins and fats with minimally processed foods.

Diets high in these areas, including MIND and Mediterranean eating, have been associated with both living longer and lowering the risk for cognitive decline in later years. (The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.)

It can be hard to feel the impacts of healthy eating in the moment, but over time the results are apparent.

Activity of all kinds

When it comes to studying South Korean “SuperAgers” — older adults with cognitive abilities expected in people decades younger — some of the most influential lifestyle factors have been physical exercise, social interaction and new, challenging activities, said Dr. Geon-Ha Kim, a neuroscientist at Ewha Womans University Medical Center in Seoul.

For lessons on activity, Swisher spoke with the social media star known as “Korea Grandma,” Park Mak-rye. The 79-year-old shares her healthy cooking recipes, skin care regime and exercise routines online. Those elements, in addition to her close group of friends, are keys to her health, she told Swisher.

The data on activity of all kinds is clear.

Regular exercise that increases your heart and breathing rate has been associated with an up to 40% decreased risk of early death. Those who experience loneliness and social isolation had a 32% increased risk of dying early from any cause, according to a 2023 study. And engaging with a

By Dana O’Neil, CNN

Newtown Square, Pennsylvania (CNN) — Doug Siberski grew up on Boulder Creek Lane, in a house his father designed and had built back in 1961. Stanley Siberski was a dentist – for some time the only one in Newtown Square – who loved to serenade his patients with country songs. He was especially partial to Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty.

Like Stanley, his house is decidedly quirky, and as the decades have passed and Newtown Square has risen in its socioeconomic status, it stands out even more among the traditional homes along the street. Doug moved into the house after Stanley and Doug’s mom Regina passed away, determined to keep it in the family. He’s even kept some neighbors at bay, who have promised him a song if he wants to sell the property.

Because like any good piece of real estate, Doug’s house is all about location, location, location: The backyard shares a border with the fairway on the first hole of Aronomink Golf Club.

Especially this week, there is no sweeter place to live than the club, which hosts the PGA Championship.

Siberski and his fellow enterprising folks along Boulder Creek have turned their backyards into private viewing parties. At the suggestion of Jai Biljani, they went in and rented platforms and scaffolding that rise above the eight-foot fence erected by the PGA, giving them an unimpeded view of the entirety of the first hole and clear across the course.

“The last time this event was here, it was 1962,” Siberski said. “My sister was one. And now we’ll all be here today, watching it again.”

Doug’s yard stretches long enough that he’s got a double-vantage point. At one end, he put actual construction scaffolding – think yellow paint, straight out of Home Depot – and built some makeshift steps, laying a piece of plywood to access them. “I have to keep it a little redneck,’’ he said with a laugh.

He plopped an American flag at the end, so people could find it, nestled among the trees. That offers a nice shaded view of the tee and fairway.

But ever ingenious, the family also made it possible to get eyeballs on the green as well. Doug’s nephew, Pat Corcoran, stood atop a ladder and watched the golf.

“It probably came with the house,” Corcoran said when asked about the ladder’s age.

Next to him, his buddy Joe Spence and two of Siberski’s business partners, Theresa Supe and Dietmar Freyhammer, hopped in the bed of a Dodge Ram 2500 truck, perfectly backed up to the fence. Supe, from Germany, and Freyhammer, from Austria, purposely picked this week for “business,’’ knowing they’d get to watch some golf.

“I’m more of a golf addict than him,” Freyhammer said.

Doug hilariously isn’t even a member at Aronomink and says he’s a golfer in the sense that “I beat a ball around the course. I have a 12 handicap, which means I bring 12 balls and lose them all.”

But he loves a good party, and happily joined in. “I thought, ‘Why not?’’ he said. “Sounded like fun.”

His neighbors, Jim and Eileen Hageney, are longtime Aronomink members (their daughter, Claire, is getting married there in August), but only just bought their house on Boulder Creek Lane in the past year and aren’t even living in it. Upon purchase, they took upon a full renovation. There’s still no running water and workers were crawling about the place on Friday morning. Some, who are working on rebuilding the chimney, used the actual work scaffolding to pause and catch some golf, too.

As members, they’ll actually go onto the course and watch from areas reserved for Aronomink members but even that exclusive perch doesn’t beat the privacy of their own backyard. They were all too happy to go in on the platforms, joining with three other families for the rentals that ran about $2,000.

Theirs is slightly fancier than Doug’s, with handrails up the sides and stairs. They