Belonging to faith-based communities can add years onto life

One of the 'Power 9' approaches to living longer is simple: Belong

Chelsey Abercrombie, center, walks with her new exercise friend, Shelly Cornett, in the First Baptist Church parking lot as part of its Couch Potato to 5K program in 2014. The class at the Family Life Center trains people for their first 5-kilometer race. The next class will begin July 24 and end with a 5K race and 1-mile fun run/walk Sept. 23 at Midtown Greenway.

0604CouchPotato1 — Chelsey Abercrombie, center, walks with her new exercise friend, Shelly Cornett, in the First Baptist Church parking lot as part of its Couch Potato to 5K program in 2014. The class at the Family Life Center trains people for their first 5-kilometer race. The next class will begin July 24 and end with a 5K race and 1-mile fun run/walk Sept. 23 at Midtown Greenway.

EDITOR’S NOTE: National Geographic fellow Dan Buettner visited Gainesville in April 2016 to share his nine “Blue Zone Power Approaches” to living a longer life. This series is dedicated to those approaches and how they can be implemented in Hall County. The seventh power approach, “Belong,” says the world’s longest-living people belong to a faith-based community.

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