If anyone can argue that age is just a number, it’s 90-year-old Olive Wilkinson.

Her daily routine keeps her busy. She exercises, watches her favourite cooking shows and knits caps and sweaters for needy children in Uganda.

And despite having diabetes diagnosed 17 years ago, she hasn’t let it slow her down.

“If you stick to what you’re supposed to do for your health, you’ll make out fine,” Ms Wilkinson said. “If you don’t, you pay for it.

“I wouldn’t wish diabetes on anyone. It’s not an easy life having this. Your whole life changes but it doesn’t mean you have to give up.

“Never say you can’t do something. I always say ‘I am going to do it’.”

Now a resident at Westmeath, Ms Wilkinson does daily strength training exercises with a resistance band and also enjoys regular workout classes with other seniors at the Pembroke rest home.

She’s more advanced than some of her peers and often asks to do extra exercises with the instructor. She also watches her diet and tries to eat meals containing lots of fruits, vegetables and rice.

Years ago her life was dramatically different.

“When I was younger we all did cooking — my grandmother, my mom and myself,” Ms Wilkinson said. “We all were good cooks. I liked to cook everything and used to make lots of breads, cakes and pies.

“But now that I’m a diabetic there’s a lot I can’t eat. I enjoy watching the food shows on television and always like to see what I’m not going to get for supper,” she said, with a laugh.

At one point the senior citizen weighed more than 160lbs — a lot heavier than the 115lbs she is now.

She decided to get healthy after learning she had diabetes.

When not working on her fitness, she enjoys knitting for local charity Adara Development (formerly known as ISIS Group).

She was taught to knit by her mother Marjorie Fox when she was a teenager. These days it helps her to pass the time away and “keep [her] mind going and fingers happy”.

Plus, she said, it feels good to know the pieces she knits are going to a worthy cause.

Adara is an international development organisation that works to improve the lives of children and families in Nepal and Uganda. Ms Wilkinson’s caps and blankets are given specifically to premature babies born at the rural Kiwoko Hospital in the Nakaseke district of Uganda.

“The babies are so small, you can hold them in the palm of your hand,” Ms Wilkinson said. “I was a premature baby, too, so I definitely have a soft spot for them.

“I also like doing this. I feel like I am accomplishing something. [The charity] sends me pictures of the nurses who receive the caps. I get so pleased because it’s nice to see what you have done and see how it has been received.”

She said it was a pleasure to volunteer her services.

“I feel it’s always good to give back when I have been given so much,” she said. “And I enjoy doing it. You make different friends.

“I had an old friend here at Westmeath who used to help, but now her hands are crippled with arthritis so she had to stop.

“Once in a while I am able to find someone else to do it with.” She plans to continue with the knitting for as long as she’s able.

Depending on what else she’s doing, Ms Wilkinson can make between one and three caps in a day. The blankets, however, take a little bit more time. Her advice for anyone looking to age well? Start to make your health a priority now.

“I tell people all the time to take care of themselves,” she said.

“I have to take extra care of myself being a diabetic. I have to stick to my diet and do my exercises, but those things are good for everyone.

“You need to take in exercise, drink water and stick to your diet and medications. If you don’t, and you’re like me, then your diabetes will take over and you will lose out. Those things are what keeps your health right.

“The more you walk and the more water you drink, then you’re setting yourself up to be on the right path. If you don’t stick to that, you will suffer for it. And nobody else can do it for you. They can help, but you have to do it for yourself.”