Concept
Pace of Aging
Last updated Sun May 17 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
What it is
Most biological-age metrics estimate the cumulative state of aging — how old your body looks now. Pace of aging metrics estimate the current rate of biological aging — how fast you are changing per calendar year.
The distinction is similar to the difference between altitude and climbing speed.
Why pace is useful
- An intervention can fail to change cumulative biological age in 2 years yet noticeably slow the rate of aging during those years — a useful near-term endpoint.
- Pace is more responsive to recent behaviour and intervention than cumulative age.
- For intervention trials, slowing the pace of aging is the desired outcome; cumulative biological age is the longer-term consequence.
How pace is measured
- Pace of Aging (Belsky 2015) — derived from longitudinal change in 19 biomarkers in the Dunedin cohort.
- DunedinPoAm and DunedinPACE — DNA methylation estimators trained to predict the longitudinal Pace of Aging signal from a single timepoint.
- DunedinPACE values around 1.0 indicate average aging pace; <1 slower than average, >1 faster.
What changes pace
- CALERIE trial showed caloric restriction slowed DunedinPACE (Waziry et al. 2023).
- Lifestyle, smoking cessation, exercise — modest effects.
- Adversity, stress, smoking, sedentary behaviour — accelerate pace.
Related entries
References
- Belsky, D. W. et al. Quantification of biological aging in young adults. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112, E4104–E4110 (2015).