Baby boomer's obesity is putting a strain on joints, the cardiovascular system and their breathing. Research suggests that boomers will have more disability when they reach their seventies.
Time to cut out the super sized treats.
Americans entering their 70s today are experiencing more disabilities in old age than did the previous generation, researchers announced Thursday. The shift in health fortunes comes as a surprise and predicts future high disability rates for the baby boomers as well.
The study is the first to foretell the end of a two-decade trend in which people appeared to be functioning better in old age than those who came before, said lead author Teresa E. Seeman, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.
The oldest people in the survey had grown up with better nutrition and had better medical treatments, resulting in less disability, Seeman said. "The hope was, this was a portent of good things to come as this population got larger. But ours is the first data to suggest disability rates may be going up. If it's true, it certainly suggests the baby boomers, whatever health benefits they've enjoyed up until now, may not enjoy such a rosy older age."
Seeman and her colleagues compared data from two large national health and nutrition surveys, one conducted from 1988 to 1994 and another from 1999 to 2004. Among people 80 and older, the data showed improvements in disability rates over time, especially among women. There was no change in disability rates among people in their 70s. However, disability rates rose among people in their 60s.
Baby boomers may face high disability rates
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