The year 2000 marked the first time in history that there were more people on Earth over the age of 60 than under the age of 5, according to a United Nations report. 10,000 people a day are retiring, according to multiple sources. That’s about 4 million a year. The baby boom generation consists of approximately 76 million people born in a 19 year period between1946-1964. While a certain percentage will die before they reach retirement age, analysts say that immigrants will actually boost the number of baby boomer retirees to nearly 80 million. That’s a big number and one that makes the idea of aging well an important one. For people who don’t smoke, don’t drink too much, watch their weight, remain active and stay socially connected life expectancy can exceed the current average of living to the mid 80s. Those life expectancy numbers can shift upward by about 5-10 years. In study after study, these habits prove to be decisive and are strong predictors of living independently as we age. The Honolulu Heart Program, has followed 9,000 Japanese Men for decades and the participants who thrive into their 80s and 90s didn’t smoke, had a lifelong history of being active. and their mothers reached the age of 80. While you can’t do much about how well your mother aged you can certainly take steps to help your odds of living well in your retirement years.
How much exercise is enough? No one has definitively answered that question but some is better than none and more is better yet. The more exercise people get, the less their cells appear to age. A study that was reported in Preventive Medicine, showed that people who exercise the most had biological aging markers that appeared nine years younger than those who did not exercise. Researchers looked at the telomeres from nearly 6,000 adults in a multi-year survey run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People were asked what physical activities they had done in the past month and how vigorously they were exercising. Researchers also used DNA samples, from the participants and measured telomere length. Telomeres are the protein caps on the ends of human chromosomes, and are considered good markers of aging and overall health. People with shorter telomeres generally die sooner and are more likely to develop some type of chronic disease. The people that exercised more had significantly longer telomeres than those who did not exercise. The exercisers could expect to live approximately 9 years longer. To qualify as top-tier exercisers, people had to do the equivalent of at least 30-40 minutes of jogging a day five days a week. Doing less was also linked to aging benefits, but less so than the higher tier persons. People who did vigorous exercise had telomeres that signaled about seven fewer years of biological aging compared to those persons considered a moderate exerciser.
The number of retirees is growing dramatically daily and the choices that we make individually and collectively will determine how well the Boomers close this generation. Life is better now than it has every been for every other generational cohort. As we grow older the habits we bring with us will determine how long and how well the aging process will go. Will this crowd go out with a Boom or will aging Bust us?