Fri, Nov-13-09, 03:08
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Plan: LC Maintenance
Stats: 215/147/150
BF:
Progress: 105%
Location: UK
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Obesity means pensioners less fit than their parents
Quote:
From The Telegraph
London, UK
13 November, 2009
Obesity means pensioners less fit than their parents
People entering retirement are for the first time less fit than their parents were at the same age, a new study suggests.
Researchers have found that those that retired in the last 10 years were less mobile and less able to look after themselves than the generation before them at the same stage of life.
They believe an "epidemic of obesity" explains why the so-called baby-boomer generation are less able to carry out the basic tasks of life than those born before the Second World War.
The findings are significant because they suggest that unhealthy lifestyles are finally offsetting the advances of medical science in society.
They also raise serious concerns about the provision for elderly care as the results suggest people will live longer but less independent lives in the future.
While the study was based in America, the researchers believe that the findings will apply to Britain as we are rapidly catching up with US obesity levels.
"Our results have significant and sobering implications," said Professor Teresa Seeman, the lead researcher at University of California.
"Older Americans face increased disability, and society faces increased costs to meet the health care needs of these disabled Americans."
Prof Seeman and her team came to the conclusion after looking at 30 years of the National Long Term Care survey, an annual questionnaire study looking at the lives of 35,000 senior citizens.
They found that for the first time the "abilities" of those retiring after the year 2000 were lower than the "abilities" of those who had retired in the 1980s and 1990s.
The abilities included walking up and down stairs or to the shops, managing household chores, and basic tasks like dressing oneself, getting in and out of bed or eating.
Ever since the Second World War the health of pensioners has generally been on the up and life-expectancy has increased because of breakthroughs in medical science.
But since the 1960s, obesity levels, and unhealthy sedentary lifestyles, have also increased and at the beginning of this century they finally began to take their toll, claim the researchers.
In the 1960s only around 13 per cent of the population were considered obese compared with 32 per cent in 2000, they said.
With levels expected to reach 45 per cent in the next 20 years the problem is likely to get worse, the study, which will be published in the American Journal of Public Health added.
"If this is true, it's something we need to address," said Prof Seeman. "If this trend continues unchecked, it will put increasing pressure on our society to take care of these disabled individuals.
"We think that a large contributor is the increase in overweight and obesity – certainly a major problem here in the US. But I do think these might well apply in the UK."
"These may be people who have longer histories of being overweight, and we may be seeing the consequences of that."
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...ir-parents.html |
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