Do I inherit my life expectancy from my parents?

Yes, you inherit a portion of your life expectancy, but it is far from a complete destiny. People with at least one parent who reached 90 scored 31% better on a measure of health deficiencies than people whose parents both died before the age of 76. Genes account for approximately 39% of the variation in that measure¹. More than 60% therefore depends on other factors.

Genetic research confirms this picture. People with a higher genetic predisposition for accelerated biological ageing have parents who, on average, lived shorter lives. Gene variants associated with a higher level of education also correlate with a longer lifespan, showing that some genes influence how old you get through behaviour or cognition. All of these associations are observational: they are not evidence of direct cause and effect.

Telomere length, a biological ageing marker, is also partly inherited. Longer telomeres in the mother and a higher paternal age at birth were associated with longer telomeres in newborns. However, maternal anxiety during pregnancy, smoking, blood sugar levels and vitamin B12 levels proved to be at least as relevant. Environmental factors before birth therefore already leave their mark.

There are indications that stress in parents leaves epigenetic traces that are passed on to offspring and influence disease risk². However, this research has largely been conducted in insects. Its translation to humans is still in its scientific infancy.

In short: parents who live long lives pass on a biological advantage, but genes are not a verdict. If your parents died young, that does not mean you will too. Smoking, blood sugar regulation and stress during pregnancy already influence the ageing markers of the unborn child. More than half of the variation in health and lifespan is in your own hands.