Good And Bad News For Boomers

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics recently released its annual report on health in America, and the results for the Baby Boom generation were a mix of good and bad. The CDC found that the overall death rate for people ages 55 to 64 has decreased over the last decade, and that people in this age range may live another 19 years or more.

However, another finding in the report showed that some of the negative percentages had not changed from the previous decade. Fifty-one percent of Baby Boomers were shown to have high blood pressure, 40 percent were obese, and 19 percent had diabetes.  Not surprisingly, the use of prescription drugs is high among the 55-64 age group because of these conditions.

These mixed results suggests that while new treatments and interventions are saving and prolonging lives, prevention in the form of lifestyle changes will still need to be undertaken by many Boomers in order to cut the risk of chronic health problems.