Known as the post-war “baby boom” generation, this generation has enjoyed the benefits of most of the modern technological and medical breakthroughs of this century. Never-before-performed surgeries, supposed “miracle pills” and other innovative medical treatments have kept the baby boomers alive for longer than any generation before them.
But in seeming contradiction to their long lifespans, the baby boomers can’t confidently claim to be the healthiest generation yet. In fact, they may be one of the least healthy of the recent generations, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Striking Numbers on Baby Boomers’ Health
One of the most surprising and least hopeful numbers revealed by the study is that about 36 percent of baby boomers are clinically obese, which can be an indication of high risk for many other conditions that drain our medical system of financial resources such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Compared to the preceding and following generations, which both have obesity rates of about 25 percent (alarming in itself), the baby boomers are falling much farther behind than they should be.
Other alarming numbers include the fact that only 13 percent of baby boomers self-reported their health to be “excellent,” whereas 32 percent of the previous generation did. Baby boomers also have higher rates of high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension than any previous recorded generation.
Any Good News?
It does appear that baby boomers are healthier than previous generations in a couple respects: they’re less likely to smoke cigarettes than previous generations, and they experience lower rates of emphysema and myocardial infarction as well.
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