Par Paul Ropartz
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blvdone / stock.adobe.com
Generations born after 1945 are more affected than previous generations by chronic diseases, such as obesity and cancer.
Despite increasing life expectancy, baby boomer generations are in poorer health and more vulnerable to chronic diseases than previous generations, according to a study by University College London (UCL) and the University of Oxford published this summer. “Despite advances in medicine and greater public awareness of healthy living, people born since 1945 are at greater risk of chronic disease and disability than their predecessors», explains researcher Laura Fimeno in the British daily The Guardian.
The study, carried out between 2004 and 2018 in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States on more than 100,000 people over the age of 50, shows that these diseases affect populations at increasingly younger ages. Baby boomers born between 1955 and 1959 in the UK and Europe are 1.5 times more likely than people born between 1936 and 1945 to have cancer, cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol levels leading to to diabetes. Multimorbidity for those over 50, that is to say living with two or more chronic illnesses, is on the rise in several countries, particularly in the United States where it increased by 32% between the 1980s. and 2020.
This trend could affect new generations
The report also mentions the increase in cases of obesity over generations. Among the people questioned, those born between 1946 and 1954 were 14% obese compared to 12% for those born between 1936 and 1945. This “Increasing obesity could lead to serious disability among baby boomers”warns the researcher.
A phenomenon that Laura Fimeno describes as “generational drift in health” and which could become more pronounced with the younger generations born after the “baby boomers”. “These worrying trends could lead to (them) spending more years in poor health and living with disability,” she specifies.
The aging of the baby boomer generation will have a significant impact on social services, accentuated by the increase in the number of chronic diseases. “Almost a fifth of the population in high-income Western countries (are) now over 65, growing demand for health care and social care will have huge implications for public spending”,she concludes.
