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South Sarasota County residents John Clark and Eunice King have waited a long time to become trendsetters.

South Sarasota County residents John Clark and Eunice King have waited a long time to become trendsetters.

Just weeks shy of their 100th birthdays, Clark and King are about to join the fastest-growing population group in the United States. That is according to Dr. Thomas Perls of the New England Centenarian Study, Boston.

As recently as 30 years ago, there were fewer than 5,000 people in the country aged 100 or more. Today, there are 40,000 to 50,000, and the Census Bureau predicts 200,000 in 20 years.

On Wednesday, Clark and King joined 70 of the roughly 250 centenarians from Sarasota and Manatee counties for a Social Security Administration party in their honor at the Senior Friendship Center in Sarasota.

The event got Clark and his 73-year-old son, Bob, to forgo their customary morning constitutional along the perimeter aisle at the Target store in South Venice, where six laps make a mile.

Clark and his son, who are known as the "Dodge Boys" for their caps, a legacy from long careers both had with the Chrysler Corp., usually walk two laps, take a coffee break, then walk two more.

John Clark now uses a shopping cart as a walker during his morning rounds. Until recently he and his son did a full six laps nearly every morning, but the senior Clark acknowledges that part of turning 100, as he will on July 21, is a bit of a slowdown. "That's kind of a drag," he said, "but you can't expect to be very active at 100 years of age."

The odds are better and better, though, that you will be alive. According to Dr. Leonard W. Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Center, one in every 4,000 or 5,000 people in the United States will reach the age of 100. Twenty years ago, the number was one in 10,000.

Today's centenarians tend to be a sturdy lot. According to a 12-year study of 150 "expert survivors," as the University of Georgia center calls them, centenarians experience no more illnesses, take no more prescription medicines and require no more hospital stays or doctor visits than people in their 60s, 70s or 80s.

More than 60 percent of those in the Georgia study rated their health as good to excellent. Even more said they were healthier at 100 than they had been five years before.

Some other findings: Centenarians eat breakfast on a regular basis. Their diets contain high concentrations of Vitamin A and carotenoids (as found in carrots, potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupes), which the body converts to Vitamin A. About half make a conscious effort to restrict their intake of fat.

They don't smoke. (John Clark smoked briefly as a young man but didn't like it; his second son, Roger, smokes, despite his father's disapproval.) They drink alcohol moderately or not at all. They tend not to be obese.

And they're happy: "We were surprised to find very little depression among the centenarians," said Peter Martin, a University of Iowa professor who co-directed the Georgia study while on the faculty there. "These people have a high degree of self-sufficiency and are confident and resourceful in their ability to overcome obstacles and problems."

For Eunice King, who turns 100 on July 25, confidence means accepting the limitations of fading hearing and poor eyesight but not fixating on health concerns.

"I take care of my health as things come up," she said. Lately, nothing has. Just last week, her doctor gave her a clean bill of health.

King lives in Nokomis with her widowed daughter-in-law, Mary Alice King, with whom she goes shopping in Tampa and has the occasional lunch in Boca Grande. At home, she enjoys the constant company of her animals, two cats and a dog.

Many studies have found that the companionship of friends, relatives, even pets, can be an important factor in longevity.

John Clark lives in Venice with his kid brother, Curtis "Cookie" Clark, 88, and Cookie's wife and former high-school sweetheart Eva Mae.

A one-time Navy cook, Curtis Clark prepares most of their meals. His wife does the housework. John Clark, noting that age has its privileges, gets to relax and watch TV.

At least three times a week, he goes out to dinner with Regina Tezber, a friend some 30 years his junior. She does the driving. John gave up his license six years ago.

"You have to accept the fact that there are things you can't do anymore and you can't fret about it," he said.

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