I got to see this costume up close! My fave part: the piano, also filled with bubbles. And her playing said piano with her clear plastic stripper stiletto. Oh yeah, the singing was fab too.For those of you who think I act like a teenager (this 30-year-old mom recently saw Lady Gaga in concert – a show otherwise filled with superfan teen girls and drag queens), apparently I have good reason. According to this test, I’m actually only 18. If you, like me, have been on the Internet since Al Gore invented it, then I’m sure you recognize the grandaddy of online quizzes. Basically, you answer 150 lifestyle questions and the test calculates your “real” biological age by adding years for things like smoking and sleep debt while subtracting years for healthy habits like flossing and taking a multi. The Real Age test is so ubiquitous as to be a staple on Oprah. And without even shoddily crafting a pseudomemoir!
At first I will admit I was thrilled with my results. See? That healthy living obsession is paying off in the form of high-kicking organs and a mind that could battle wits against a Sicillian and win (although not in a land war in Asia.) But then the doubt started to creep in. I fussed around with my results and discovered something interesting: the test puts an immense, some might say disproportionate, emphasis on certain supplements. Especially confusing to me was the pro vitamin E stance, considering all the recent research about its harmful effects. A supplement that reportedly causes a 15% increase in early death actually added years to my life according to the quiz. Are they just operating off of old research? After all, Vitamin E used to be the wonder supplement before Vitamin D threw it off the bridge with cement shoes. Or, is something more nefarious going on?
It turns out that I am not the only person to question the validity and thereby the recommendations of The Real Age quiz. The New York Times recently ran a story about the Quiz and came to an interesting conclusion: the test is sponsored by drug manufacturers who glean information from the surveys. Stephanie Clifford writes,
While few people would fill out a detailed questionnaire about their health and hand it over to a drug company looking for suggestions for new medications, that is essentially what RealAge is doing.
RealAge allows drug companies to send e-mail messages based on those test results. It acts as a clearinghouse for drug companies, including Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, allowing them to use almost any combination of answers from the test to find people to market to, including whether someone is taking antidepressants, how sexually active they are and even if their marriage is happy.
In addition, The Real Age test, backed by Oprah’s Dr. Mehmet Oz, has branched out into a full online community with mailing lists, chat rooms and even recipes. Boasting a membership of over 27 million, they’ve got a lot of eyeballs. So not only is the test assigning an arbitrary number based on dubious health principles but they’re also creating one of the largest online drug marketing databases in the world.
Then what’s a health-and-quiz-loving girl to do? Tara Parker-Pope, also of the New York Times, suggests the Your Disease Risk Quiz. Their website isn’t nearly as sexy nor will it give the you succinct and flattering satisfaction of a “real age” number but it will tell you which of your lifestyle factors make you more vulnerable to certain diseases. In addition to helpful tips more firmly rooted in research, the quiz (multiple disease-specific quizzes actually) also has the added benefit of not requiring registration nor storing any of your information. It is for your eyes only, to do with what you wish. (Iocaine powder tolerance, optional.)
Have you taken The Real Age Quiz? Did it make you younger or older? Did you find the quiz motivated you to make healthy changes in your life? Or are you suspicious of anything that ties up in such a neat little package? Anyone else secretly love A Million Little Pieces? (Shhhh….)
Well, it says I’m 32 (35 in real life). I need to stop talking on the phone while I drive apparently. It was kind of a cool test, but I really like the disease risk test better. I took that one last year, and aside from an “extremely high” risk of skin cancer (darn scandinavian genes), I probably won’t be dying of any other disease 🙂
Anyway, I’m not sure if we can hang out anymore Charlotte since an 18 year old and a 32 year old can’t possibly have anything in common. Get back to me when you start talking on the phone while driving or eating fewer fruits and veggies!! :))
I giggle that for some reason Ive never taken it!!
Im a rebel that way 🙂
not sure why I havent but it isnt an accident.
Im in.
today.
Ill be back when Toddler is suitably distracted!
Wow, thanks so much for exposing this!
I got part-way through it a year or two ago, but found it was too long to finish given that I was getting dubious about some of the questions that were being asked. (I’m also notoriously lazy).
I also found that I was tempted to cheat, or at least fudge, in some of my answers when they weren’t clear cut. I wonder how many other folks have selective memories when it comes to self-assessment quizzes?
But I had NO IDEA that drug companies were behind it. Thanks for the info!
Have you done the Wii Fit age test? I think it puts me anywhere from 20-32 depending on my balance for the day… And I’m 26. At least it isn’t selling my stats to drug companies!
Yes, I’ve taken it but I forgot the result, somewhere around puberty 🙂
Unfortunately, the only age numbers that matter are the first and the last 🙁
It’s the weak link that worries me.
Oh my gosh! I audibly gasped when I read that the Real Age test is in bed with the pharmaceutical companies! Ahh! I’ve never taken the test because I’m lazy and don’t know all of my stats, but I certainly am aware of it because of the Oprah connection. Yikes!
I did take it. Don’t remember exactly what I got – but I had major life stress going on not too long before I took it and I lost a lot points for that. Stress aged me. 🙁 i am on the comeback trail though, trying to get younger again. But wow – didn’t know the drug company people were spying on me. Geez! I won’t be going near that test again. It was way too long anyways.
Hehe quizzes are fun. Haven’t taken it yet but I might be considerably older considering my refusal to take supplements and all that. So sneaky how the results are skewed in that way!
Quizzes are fun but I never trust them for accuracy. I will have to sit down and answer the questionnaire when I get a chance to later today 🙂
Yeah, quizzes are fun, but I don’t think anyone should really take the results seriously. And wow, had no idea they were in bed with the drug companies. Sheesh. Just like those facebook surveys where they get you to list all that personal info like your hometown and birthday and pet (all security question type info for recovering passwords). It sucks having to be so suspicious these days…
I remember taking it last year and scored about 10 years younger than I was. One place it zinged me was on not enough whole grains (I eat fairly low carb). I had noticed that it loved vitamins but I did well on that area because my husband does too so he has the entire family taking everything he thinks we should have. I did have to go in an update my profile after to stop the onslaught of emails about migraines and allergies (which I had check that I suffer from).
I took it a couple years ago and it said I was 13.5.
My inbox is filled with stuff about allergies, headaches, and whole grains. I’d hoped it would be a resource, but frankly, it’s not worth the effort/trouble.
I didn’t take it (test too long, me too lazy). But I know that, mentally and emotionally, I’m about 12.
I took it years ago, don’t remember my age, but had to email to complain as it dinged many years off my life because I generally travel by bicycle. I also felt that their quiz was skewed towards the standard American diet, meat/dairy/pill heavy, with not much room for vegetarians. My memory may be foggy, though.
I am 31, and the test said I was 34. This for a girl who has a healthy BMI, just finished a marathon, whose annual check-up showed that all of my levels (cholesteral, etc.) were very good…BUT I don’t take vitamins. Instead, I (gasp!) eat a varied and healthy diet – veggies, fruit, lean meat, fish…
And it put me at 34.
Totally seems to me to be a way for vitamin companies to push their products.
I’m calling B.S. (with all respect to those who did score very low!)
– Yasmin
I was told I am 14 (I’m 36). I taught middle school for a number of years…..I knew there was a reason I did well with that age group!
Good post! I looked at it once, but it seemed too damn nosy so I passed. Now I’m glad.
Since I was 22 I’ve lied about my age simply because when I told the truth no one believed me. (I always look at least 5 years younger than I am. That’s very annoying when you’re 22. Not so annoying these days 🙂
I am happy to report I am 20.5. (Really 30) I plan to be 20.5 forever!! Wait 21 would be better!!!
Thankfully, the only disease I seem to be at high risk for based on that sites questions is melanoma, which I’m not surprised about, given my fair skin.