- A study of over 6,000 people found that those who felt younger than their actual age had lower mortality rates, with 14.3% of deaths for those who felt younger compared to 18.5% for those who felt their actual age and 24.6% for those who felt older. - Feeling younger was associated with lower risk of heart disease but not cancer. Further research is needed to understand why this occurs. - A separate study found that a person needs to look at least 10 years older than their actual age for their appearance to reliably indicate poor physical or mental health. Looking up to 5 years older does not predict health issues.