The reality of our own mortality
hits us some time in our thirties; we realize we will not live
forever, and we recognize that people are living longer than
they did fifty years ago. Some toss it off in a cavalier manner,
a few go death-scare crazy; most are somewhere in the middle
with me, getting it that we just do not have forever, and consoling
ourselves with the fact that we still have longer.
I decided when I was forty-nine
that I needed to shed the weight now or face for certain debilitating
health issues when I aged: knee problems, arthritis, (try moving
three hundred pounds out of bed when everything hurts), heart
or other organ problems from the stress of the extra weight,
diabetes (Type II usually results from obesity), etc.
Advanced Infirmation is the process of increasingly
developing new illness as you age more rapidly than normal due
to obesity.
When I moved to Florida to be
with my mother, I found myself transported from small communities
in rural areas of California, working with young teachers and
younger parents and children, to a megalopolis, for me, of a
city, Delray Beach, in a single housing development
of more than 12,000 over fifty-five years old residents. (There
are more people in this one development than in many of the cities
I have lived in.) Most of these people bought these condos decades
ago; the majority of the population here is over seventy-five,
and most of them are in their eighties and nineties. I want
you to know Bette Davis was being subtle when she
said, Old age is not for sissies.
We see people here on a daily
basis who need assistance or devices to get around: aides, walkers,
wheelchairs, canes; we see folks on oxygen, as their circulation
or lung capacity or heart strength impairs their ability to get
air. We see not so old people, the young crowd (in their
sixties), who are already obese, sedentary, and heading for all
of the health problems associated with Geriatric Obesity.
Restaurants are full of people
conversing about their sciatica, diabetes, blood pressure, edema
(water retention), fatigue; the list is long, and the same conversations
are overheard everywhere we go, coming from new strangers. People
converse regarding their multiple medications, with varying directions
on times to take them being confusing; they fear taking too many
of something or not enough of something else. Many are taking
so many somethings, I worry that they suffer drug interactions
they are not even aware of. I imagine that these might even present
to a doctor as new symptoms, and yet another drug will be prescribed.
There are a few people who walk here, but itis mostly the young
sixties crowd; the majority of folks here get no more movement
in a day than dressing and undressing, and going out to the clubhouse
to play cards or take a ceramics class, or go shopping, if
they go out at all. Many are quite housebound. Most are overweight.
Most consume very large quantities of breads and sweets, and
pre-packaged, over-processed foods and meals. If boxed sugar
cereals and the TV dinner were an affront to good nutrition when
I was five, bagels, Danish, and the microwave dinner have got
to be an affront to good nutrition for the golden years.
There are three commodities
you can not buy: love, health, and time. But you can invest in
them now, and bank away for tomorrow: invest money in the
bank, time in your loved ones, and energy in exercise
for your future health.
If you do an internet search
on obesity and health, you will come up with thousands of sites.
(Yahoo returned 27,400,000 listings.) Among other ailments, obesity
is listed as increasing the risk of illness and death due to
diabetes, stroke, coronary artery disease, hypertension, high
cholesterol, and kidney or gallbladder disorders; it may increase
the risk for some types of cancer, and is also a risk factor
for the development of osteoarthritis and sleep apnea (a condition
in which one stops breathing when asleep for brief moments in
time; an apnea incident can be fatal.).
I belong to the Baby Boomer
generation. In 2005, the Census Bureau put out a special statistics
report. The following statistics come from this report:
In
2006, the oldest of the baby boomers, the generation born between
1946 and 1964, will turn 60 years old.
78.2 million Estimated number of baby boomers,
as of July 1, 2005.
7,918 Number of people turning 60 each day in 2006, according
to projections. That amounts to 330 every hour.
50.8% Percentage of women baby boomers in 2005.
$2,695 Average annual expenditures on health care in 2004 for
people ages 45 to 54, the age group that is the heart of the
baby boom generation. When budgeting medical expenses, baby boomers
should expect increased health-care spending as they age; for
instance, those aged 55 to 64 spent $3,262 and those 65 and over,
$3,899.
57.8 million Number of baby boomers living
in 2030, according to projections; 54.9 percent would be female.
That year, boomers would be between ages 66 and 84.
The Future: 4,041 Number of continuing care retirement
facilities in 2003. Many boomers could have parents in need of
such facilities or may have to move into such a facility themselves
in the future.
No matter when youstart, a healthy lifestyle improves your quality
of life and may extend your lifespan. People who are physically
active, eat healthily, avoid tobacco and alcohol, and who get
regular check-ups are more likely to look forward to many years
of staying active and independent than those of us who deviate
from this regimen by varying degrees.
More than fifty percent of people
die from preventable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer
and stroke. How a body ages is linked in part to family patterns
of aging and genetics, but the greatest impact on how well we
age is made by our personal health behaviors. Our daily lifestyle
choices have the most influence on how well, or poorly, our body
ages, and what quality of life we have when we are old.
Choose an exercise you like
and stick with it. Regular exercise is even more important for
seniors than other age groups. Their risk of disease and lost
mobility is greater. Look for ways every day to exercise in work
and play. Stretch and walk whenever possible. Studies have been
done which show that even sedentary people in their nineties
can build muscle.
