Nick Buettner: "Healthier lifestyles are also possible in our fast-paced societies."

"In a lot of our cultures, we segment our communities instead of working together to promote healthy eating," he says. This often leads to unhealthy behaviour becoming the norm. In the so-called Blue Zones in particular, it has been shown that simple rethinking meals - like a large breakfast, a moderate lunch and a light dinner - can have a positive impact on health.

According to Buettner, our environment plays a central role in our eating habits. In America, companies often design food environments to make unhealthy foods seem more appealing. Advertising and additives exploit our natural cravings for salt and fat. "But if we design environments where healthy choices are just natural, we don't have to worry about those other outside influences."

The power to transform a community lies in everyone's hands, he says. Local authorities, business leaders and society itself must therefore work together. In Switzerland, for example, the life expectancy is about 83. However, the capacity of the human body is to live for 92 years. So there's room for improvement. Watch the video interview to find out what specifically we can improve.