Health Status and Risks: NC Boomers Compared to US Boomers and NC’s Current Older Adults

Compared to US Boomers, they



• smoke more
• are less likely to exercise and about equally likely to be overweight
• have somewhat higher death rates, but the same leading causes of death

Compared to NC Older Adults, they

• smoke more than their parents do now, but less than their parents did when they were younger
• are less likely to be completely sedentary, but also a little less likely to exercise vigorously and regularly
• may experience a lower rate of impairment in their later years

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Notes:

Like the other slides that compare NC Boomers to these other populations, this one is largely self-explanatory.

The primary reason that today’s older adults have lower smoking rates is that a higher proportion of smokers have already died. (That is, the number of people who have never smoked makes up a larger percentage of the older population.)

The finding that boomers are less likely to have a regular, vigorous program of exercise than older adults, does NOT refer to older adults when they were the boomers’ ages. Older adults are working out more than the boomers are now.