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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsScary Health-Care Statistics on the Broken-Down Boomer Generation
(Bloomberg Businessweek) Aging baby boomers are fatter and sicker than their predecessors were at the same age, says a new study thats raising alarms about the future costs of health care and disability.
The study, published online on Feb. 4 by JAMA Internal Medicine, says boomers were less likely to report excellent health and to do regular exercise, and more likely to suffer from obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and other maladies. To pick one sorrowful example, they were twice as likely to use a walking assist device, such as a cane.
Boomers who are in poor health will not only have more expensive health care; they are more likely to retire early, depriving employers of their specialized knowledge. Thats bad news for companies like Chrysler, FedEx (FDX), J.C. Penney (JCP), Raytheon (RTN), and Vanguard Group. All of those companies are members of the San Diego-based Disability Management Employer Coalition.
The JAMA study, if accurate, is very discouraging, says Charlie Fox, president of the Disability Management Employer Coalition. What wed been hearing all along was that boomers were the most healthy, agrees Terri Rhodes, the coalitions manager of education programs. Theres been some thought that if we can hang on to boomers longer, we can hang on to their intellectual capital. If were having a population now thats going to be disabled, that definitely is going to impact the sheer number of available workers. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-07/scary-health-care-statistics-on-the-broken-down-boomer-generation
dkf
(37,305 posts)Obese Kids as Young as 6 at Risk of Heart Issues
By DR. JULIELYNN WONG, ABC News Medical Unit
9/26/12, 12:02 PM EDT
Obese kids -- even as early as age 6 -- can start showing changes to their heart muscles that could lead to problems later, a new review of previously published studies shows. And some obese kids had elevated blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar at age 5.
This international study, published in the journal BMJ, combined the results of 63 studies on nearly 50,000 school-aged kids from 23 countries, making it one of the largest reviews of its kind to date. The researchers compared the data linking obesity in kids and risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
What they found was alarming. It gives obese kids a head start on developing heart disease, stroke and diabetes, said the lead study author, Claire Friedemann, a doctoral student in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
The authors estimated that if obese kids continued to have high blood pressure as adults, their risk for heart attack and stroke would be 30 to 40 percent higher than that of their normal-weight peers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/obesity-children-young-linked-thickening-heart-muscle-high/t/story?id=17323827
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)I'd have a tendency to believe it. Very rigorous oversight.
I don't think health is the only reason that boomers intellectual potential has been --or will be--wasted...many political reasons.
gvstn
(2,805 posts)That using a walking assist device is particularly troubling.
I think there is less stigma to these devices than in previous years and they help keep older people safe from traumatic falls. It may be that it jumps out because the increase is nearly double but it is still a rather small percentage of the population. I'd much rather see an older person using a cane or walker then unsteadily walking independently due to vanity.