These are two different though related issues.
In general, it has repeatedly been found that how healthy you feel is very close to how healthy you actually are:
https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/17674/
The downloadable pdf is available.
Meanwhile how old you feel subjectively is dramatically related to your health:
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-45096-001
Here’s a pop sci article:
A lot of these “subjective” assessments of your own health and age do appear correlated with things like appearance. But appearance can be broader than just the face, quality of skin and hair, but also body, movement, behavior and speech.
What I also wonder is if there can be discordance between, f.ex., you feel very healthy (and are!), but your appearance is only average age, or feel very young, but don’t look very young - there are reports that people on average feel about 12 years younger than their calendar age.
Personally, I feel very healthy, my self assessment of health is “very good” - one tier below the top tier of “excellent”. But my “how old do you feel” is off the charts younger, much younger than my appearance (though I am assessed by others as about 15-20 years younger than my actual 66), so right there there’s a discordance between how old I feel and how old I look. Behavior, exercise performance, speech, much younger compared to my peers - and this has been true for decades.
I find it true for others too, like friends who are much younger than me, but act and seem much older. Another casual hobby is to make subjective assessments of age of people, and I’m usually pretty accurate (like meeting some of my wife’s coworkers, and later giving my report as to how old I think they are etc.).
Do you feel you have a good grip on your own health assessment, feeling, age looks etc.?
