Boomers less healthy than their parents

Who knew?  The very good Health and Retirement Study, following 20,000 Americans through middle age to retirment, is finding that boomers are not as healthy as their parents.   

I can not say it better than Rob Stein of the Washington Post who wrote, "The baby boomers were much less likely than their predecessors to describe their health as "excellent" or "very good," and were more likely to report having difficulty with routine activities, such as walking several blocks or lifting 10 pounds. They were also more likely to report pain, drinking and psychiatric problems, and chronic problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes."

You should read this article (link above).  The data is not definitive, but as Dr. Cutler of Harvard point out the trends are certainly consistent. And then we should all remember that self-reported health is a very powerful marker of future mortality, for better or worse.      

We may smoke less, and we may take better care of our cardiovascular risk factors; but we also are  more obese, exercise less, and eat more poorly. 

There is the answer: everyone grab an apple and go outside to play.  Dr. Bob