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I like to think that every generation learns from the prior generation and steps things up when it’s their turn. This one thing is for sure: I always thought that we knew more about being healthy than our parents did.
C’mon, look at us! We’re the gym-goers, healthy eaters, obsessed with our input as well as our output. We’re the healthy generation, the enlightened ones who know a thing or two about whole grains, too much salt, too little sleep.
Aren’t we?
Now, take our parents.
Did they know the difference between a crunch and a lunge? I’ll bet they never knew that regular exercise can keep your bones and muscles from wasting and lowers the risk of many diseases, including dementia. They probably didn’t know that foods like Twinkies and white bread (remember molding it into little round shapes that actually bounced like a ball?) could wreak havoc with your health, either. Do you think they ever asked the waiter to “please ask the chef to hold the salt” when ordering their Chinese food?
Well, turns out I was wrong. A new study of the health of baby boomers vs. our parents begs to differ.
We baby boomers may be living longer than our parents…but we have worse health than the previous generation.
How is that possible??
The Los Angeles Times reports that researchers compared answers from a large federal survey called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Boomers between the ages of 46 and 64 answered it between 2007 and 2010; their elders answered the same survey between 1988 and 1994, when they were in the same age span.
Here’s what they found:
Good news: We’re less likely to smoke, have emphysema or get heart attacks compared with our parents’ generation.
BUT…and there is a big BUT…
Here’s where we fall down. We have MORE:
- Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- Obesity
- High Cholesterol (about 74 percent of us have it, compared with 34 percent of our elders)
- Disability (The percentage of boomers who are disabled and need a cane or walker to get around is double that of the prior generation. Yikes!)
And here are a couple more that really surprised me:
- More than half the boomers surveyed reported they got no physical activity, compared with just 17 percent of the older group at the same age.
- The percentage of boomers who reported their health as “excellent” was just 13 percent compared with the older group, who reported it at 32 percent.
I think we can do better – a lot better.
It’s never too late.
Even if you start exercising and eating right in your 50s, 60s and beyond, you can undo some of the damage from years of neglecting your body. One thing leads to another.
For example, exercise is a big stress-buster.
And stress is responsible for a host of diseases.
How about this one? Eating better can reduce obesity.
And obesity is responsible for many health problems, including (and not limited to) diabetes and high blood pressure.
So c’mon, boomers!
Let’s prove the researchers wrong and do better – much better – than our parents did when it comes to our health.
Then the next generation will have a LOT to live up to.
Nancy Monson says
It seems a lot of the illness in our generation is related to poor eating habits (Twinkies and processed foods) and, as you say, lack of exercise and too much stress just from living in the 21st century.
Still, the finding is paradoxical. But then again, my parents are not very healthy, largely I think due to the factors above, so I know I’m doing a better job than they did!
SherylK says
Well, good for you for breaking the trend. And I agree that our eating habits have changed since our parent’s time. I think there’s a lot more unhealthy and processed foods out there- and a lot more emphasis on eating the WRONG things.
Irene S. Levine says
When I read this, I was also thinking about consumption of more processed foods, greater use of automobiles, less physical labor.
Very interesting post!
SherylK says
Precisely, Irene. And more time spent sitting – another health threat…
Brette Sember says
There is a new book out that basically blames all of the conditions you list as making us unhealthy on sugar. It’s called Fat Chance and is a very interesting read. The book says sugar is in almost everything we eat and we’re eating 4 times what we should.
SherylK says
Sounds like an interesting book. And it’s not hard to ignore that fact – there’s sugar added to so many foods where don’t even realize (take ketchup, for instance)
Kerry Dexter says
interesting perspectives, Sheryl — and good points about whenever you start, good changes are possible. I suppose this is somewhat addressed in the stress factor, but it seems to me the faster pace of life and the increasing expectations of immediacy these days are not all that good for mental or physical health, either.
SherylK says
I’m with you, Kerry. Rush, rush…stress, stress.
ruth pennebaker says
Fascinating post. Living longer, but feeling sicker? That’s a nightmarish scenario. We have to do better for our own sake — and for our kids and society.
SherylK says
I agree. What’s the point of living longer if we’re not living better, right?
Alisa Bowman says
I think we just have to do the best we can. Some of this is out of our control–and some of it isn’t. We’ve got to focus on the health improvements we can control.
SherylK says
Yes, Alisa, I can’t agree with you more.
Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart says
I am the next generation, and I surely hope my cohort is learning a few things along the way. We definitely owe it to the people we love to stay as healthy and mobile as we can for as long as we can.
SherylK says
Amen, Roxanne.
merr says
It’s very interesting, and I imagine that in some families the children are healthier than the parents.
Jennifer Margulis says
I just read your other post on this as well. It’s kind of shocking, and horrifying, that the baby boomer generation is SO unhealthy. It reminds me of Wall-E, if you’ve seen that movie…
SherylK says
Haven’t seen Wall-E…but now I’m intrigued, Jennifer.
Heather L says
The previous generation also spent a lot less time on computers and went outside more.
SherylK says
True…computers definitely keep us glued to our seats~ and not always in a good way.
SherylK says
True…computers definitely keep us glued to our seats~ and not always in a good way.
Vera Marie Badertscher says
I’m not surprised. I’m in the parent generation of those you’re talking about, and my husband and I are much more interested in the environment, exercise and how we eat than any of our kids. And as I talk to friends, I find that many of their offspring have diseases that were never heard of or very rare when we were younger, which seems to me to be an indication of environmental changes.
SherylK says
thanks for weighing in from your perspective, Vera. Very interesting. Too bad your kids did not follow in your footsteps!
MyKidsEatSquid says
I saw this study and it is surprising. I like your enthusiasm though for all of us to get up and get more active.
Living Large says
My parents were more active, but my father, especially, was not a healthy man. He had a terrible diet and drank too much. My mother, on the other hand, had the good DNA and though she would be 88 now, would still most likely be alive if it weren’t for smoking. I can remember after she died getting on a health kick, I should have kept at it.
Donna Hull says
I’m much healthier than my parents. My father smoked most of his life, by the end of it, he was overweight, had diabetes, severe back problems, COPD and severe heart issues. He worked hard at a job that require movement and lifting items but rarely exercised until after his first heart surgery. My mother has had breast cancer and numerous broken bones due to osteoporosis. She’s a former smoker and a sometimes exerciser. Her current diet is terrible but “she’s 83 and can do anything she wants.”
As a generation, I’m sure that boomers sit more due to computers, watching TV for most of their lives and because our country has shifted from an industrialized workforce to sedentary jobs in customer service and computer oriented businesses. That study is a wakeup call for us to get moving and eat better.
Jane Boursaw says
We SHOULD be, but I guess I’m not surprised that we’re not. Too many food choices (many of which are unhealthy) and access to food any and everywhere. There’s pretty much never a time of day, no matter where we are, that food isn’t available.