Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

Staying current on technology, spiritual activities, eating right and just plain being happy topped the list when 100 people 99 or older were recently asked about their “secrets” to a long life.

“They very much paid attention to both technology and current events,” said Dr. John Mach, the head of Evercare which conducted the poll.

Mach said one of the most surprising findings was the extent to which technology had entered the centenarians’ lives. Nearly one-fourth had bought CDs, nearly one-third had watched reality television shows and almost one in six had played video games. Six of the respondents had used the Internet while four had listened to music on an iPod.

“Certainly we know that social interactions make a difference over a lifetime, so maintaining those social interactions … in e-mails, the Internet and being able to converse about current events, that does contribute to the overall social well-being of people which we know contributes to successful aging,” Mach noted.

There are nearly 80,000 centenarians living in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which predicts the number could reach 580,000 by 2040.