A top AARP official says people need to look at aging as a new phase in life of continued growth that also offers opportunities.

“Aging is the transformational issue of our time,” AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said Saturday before an audience in the Honolulu Civic Center’s Mission Memorial Auditorium as part of the Hawaii Book &Music Festival. “Today, because of increased longevity and generally better health, we have opportunities for continued productivity and growth our parents and generations before us never had.”

Jenkins, the author of “Disrupt Aging: A Bold New Path to Living Your Best Life at Any Age,” was presented with a proclamation by Mayor Kirk Caldwell that declared Saturday AARP Day in Honolulu.

Jenkins said people need to change the way they look at health, wealth and self.

“When we disrupt aging and embrace it as something to look forward to instead of something to fear, we can begin to discover the real possibilities for becoming the person that we’ve always wanted to be and build a society where all people have the value to be who they want to be, not judged by how old they are,” she said.

The book and music festival continues today on the Civic Center grounds.

AARP Hawaii has planned a full day of panels at the AARP Hawaii Disrupt Aging Pavilion today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., presenting local speakers who, it says, defy stereotypes about what it means to get older.

The topics include “The New Realities of Aging — 21st Century Facts and Trends”; “Changing the Conversation”; Take Control of Your Health at Any Age”; “There’s an App for That”; “Put Your Experience to Work”; “Design Your Life”; and “Changing the Rules, Designing Our Communities.”