Baby Boomer Health Dynamics

by Wister, Andrew V.

• ISBN13: 9780802089571
• ISBN10: 0802089577
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-04-30
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

Are the baby boomers in Canada more or less healthy than previous generations? What are the implications of this for the national health care system? Baby Boomer Health Dynamicresponds to the growing interest in the generation that makes up over one-third of the Canadian population - the largest segment of society - with the leading edge reaching their sixty-fifth birthday in 2011 and eighty-five by 2031. Focusing on four health behaviours that have been proven to be major risk factors for disease: smoking, unhealthy exercise, obesity, and heavy drinking - Andrew V. Wister researches the long-term implications of several key lifestyle-health conundrums, most notably the paradoxical relationship in the concurrent trends over the last two decades of increased exercise levels and a significant rise in obesity. This invariably leads to questions about the eating habits of North Americans, and in particular, the quantity and quality of fast-food and convenience-food consumption. Recent public declarations by a number of health organizations and institutes that we are experiencing an obesity crisis, and moreover, that obesity is the 'new tobacco' makes Baby Boomer Health Dynamicsboth timely and topical.

Author Biography

Andrew V. Wister is the chair of the Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	xi
Preface	xix
Acknowledgments	xxiii
1 The Baby Boomer Phenomenon	3	(10)
Who Are the Baby Boomers?	3	(3)
Baby Boomers and Population Aging	6	(1)
The Social Significance of Aging Baby Boomers	6	(4)
Objectives and Primary Questions Guiding This Book	10	(3)
2 Baby Boomers and Population Health	13	(17)
How Should We Study Baby Boomer Health Dynamics?	13	(3)
What Are Healthy Lifestyles and Why Should We Study Them?	16	(3)
Have Healthy Lifestyles Really Improved over Time?	19	(1)
Have Rates of Chronic Illness Decreased over Time?	20	(2)
Does Increased Immigration over Time Affect Population Health?	22	(2)
What Might the Future Health Status of Baby Boomers Look Like?	24	(1)
How Will Aging Baby Boomers Affect Health Care Utilization?	25	(2)
Advancements in Healthy Lifestyle Interventions?	27	(3)
3 Advancements in Healthy Lifestyle Theories: Towards Transdisciplinarity	30	(9)
Understanding Healthy Lifestyles	30	(6)
The Developmental Perspective	31	(1)
The Social Capital Perspective	32	(1)
The Transtheoretical Model and Stage Theories	33	(2)
The Social Ecology of Health Promotion	35	(1)
Emerging Transdisciplinary Paradigms: The Chinese Boxes	36	(1)
Beyond the Human Genome Project: Lifestyle Pathways Are Also Important	37	(2)
4 Linking Lifestyle Behaviours and Health	39	(12)
Smoking and Health	39	(2)
Physical Activity and Health	41	(3)
BMI, Obesity, and Health	44	(3)
Alcohol Consumption and Health	47	(1)
Multiplicity of Healthy Lifestyles	48	(3)
5 Data Sources and Data Analyses	51	(15)
The Selection of Health Surveys	51	(1)
The 1978/79 Canada Health Survey	52	(1)
The 1985 and 1990 Health Promotion Surveys	53	(1)
The National Population Health Surveys	54	(4)
The 1994/95 NPHS	55	(1)
The 1998/99 NPHS	56	(1)
The 2000/01 Community Health Survey	57	(1)
Selection of Health and Social Variables	58	(1)
Age of the Baby Boomers at Each Survey Date	58	(2)
Age, Period, Cohort Analyses	60	(6)
6 Changes in Healthy Lifestyles for the Canadian Population	66	(29)
How Have Patterns of Smoking Changed?	67	(6)
Improved Smoking Patterns for Men	67	(3)
Lower Smoking Patterns for Most Women	70	(3)
Gender Differences in Smoking: Dying to Be Equal	73	(1)
How Have Exercise Patterns Changed?	73	(7)
Optimistic Exercise Patterns for Men	75	(1)
Positive Exercise Patterns for Women	76	(3)
Gender Differences in Exercise among the Young and Old	79	(1)
How Have Patterns of Obesity Changed?	80	(6)
Obesity Patterns for Men: A Very Poor Report Card	80	(3)
Obesity Patterns for Women: Another Poor Report Card	83	(2)
Gender Differences in Obesity: Equality of the Worst Kind	85	(1)
Average Body Mass Index Patterns: A Population Health Problem	86	(2)
How Have Patterns of Heavy Drinking Changed?	88	(7)
Patterns of Heavy Drinking for Men: The Good and the Bad	89	(3)
Patterns of Heavy Drinking for Women: The Age Factor	92	(1)
Gender Differences in Heavy Drinking: It's Worse Than You Think	93	(2)
7 Population Changes in Health Status and Health Utilization	95	(24)
Trends in Chronic Illness for Males: A Recent Upturn	97	(1)
Higher Levels and Increases in Chronic Illness for Females	97	(2)
Rising Rates of Hypertension for Men	99	(4)
Some Concerning Trends in Hypertension for Women	103	(1)
Arthritis for Men: Still an Old-Age Problem	104	(1)
Higher Prevalence of Arthritis in Women	104	(4)
A National Concern: Trends in Diabetes for Men	108	(1)
Slower Upward Trends in Diabetes for Women	108	(4)
Trends in Doctor Visits for Men	112	(2)
Trends in Doctor Visits for Women	114	(5)
8 Comparative Health Dynamics of Baby Boomers	119	(13)
Introduction	119	(1)
What Is the Story for Lifestyle Behaviours?	120	(6)
Baby Boomers Smoke Less in Midlife Than Earlier Cohorts	120	(1)
Baby Boomers Are Less Sedentary Than Earlier Cohorts	121	(1)
Baby Boomers Are More Obese Than Earlier Cohorts	122	(1)
Baby Boomers Drink Less Than Earlier Cohorts	123	(2)
Multiple Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours of Baby Boomers	125	(1)
What Is the Picture for Chronic Illnesses?	126	(4)
More Chronic Illnesses among Baby Boomers Than among Earlier Cohorts	126	(1)
Hypertension Higher among Baby Boomers	127	(1)
Arthritis Also Remains High among Baby Boomers	128	(1)
Rising Rates of Diabetes among Baby Boomers	129	(1)
Increasing Health Utilization	130	(2)
More Doctor Visits among Baby Boomers	130	(2)
9 Socio-economic Status, Region, and Foreign-Born Status Variations in Baby Boomer Lifestyles	132	(23)
The Socio-economic Status Factor	132	(2)
Knowledge Is Health: Educational Differences in Baby Boomer Lifestyles	134	(6)
Smoking Declines across Education Groups	135	(2)
Unhealthy Exercise Trends and Education Level	137	(1)
Obesity Rates and the Education Factor	138	(1)
Variable Patterns of Heavy Drinking across Education	139	(1)
Income Differences in Baby Boomer Lifestyles: Are the Wealthier Healthier?	140	(6)
The Income Gradient of Smoking	141	(1)
Unhealthy Exercise and Income	142	(1)
Increasing Disparity in Obesity Rates by Income Level	143	(1)
Heavier Drinking among the Rich	144	(2)
The Regional Factor in Baby Boomer Lifestyles	146	(4)
Regional Patterns in Smoking	146	(1)
An East-West Pattern to Unhealthy Exercise	147	(2)
Regional Differences in Obesity	149	(1)
Patterns of Heavy Drinking by Region	149	(1)
Foreign-Born Status and Baby Boomer Lifestyles	150	(5)
Foreign-Born Have Lower Smoking Rates	151	(1)
Higher Unhealthy Exercise Levels among Foreign-Born	152	(1)
Foreign-Born Are Less Obese	152	(1)
Patterns of Heavy Drinking by Foreign-Born Status	153	(2)
10 Summarizing Population and Baby Boomer Health Dynamics	155	(10)
The Big Picture	155	(10)
Population and Baby Boomer Smoking: Putting Out the Fire	156	(1)
Population and Baby Boomer Unhealthy Exercise Levels: Room for Improvement	157	(1)
Population and Baby Boomer Obesity: A Bulging Bulge	158	(1)
Population and Baby Boomer Heavy Drinking: Three Cheers	159	(1)
Population and Baby Boomer Health Status: Ups and Downs	159	(2)
Socio-economic, Regional, and Foreign-Born Status Factors	161	(1)
The 'Education Effect' in Baby Boomer Healthy Lifestyles	162	(1)
The 'Income Effect' in Baby Boomer Healthy Lifestyles	162	(1)
The 'Regional Effect' in Baby Boomer Healthy Lifestyles	163	(1)
The 'Foreign-Born Status Effect' in Baby Boomer Healthy Lifestyles	164	(1)
11 Explicating Two Lifestyle-Health Paradoxes	165	(17)
The Exercise-Obesity Paradox	165	(13)
Are the Patterns for Leisure-Time Physical Activity Similar?	165	(1)
Is Television the Culprit?	166	(2)
Is Work-Related Physical Activity the Problem for Adults?	168	(1)
Fast Food Super-Sized!	169	(5)
Explaining Food Consumption Patterns	174	(2)
Physical Activity: We Still Have a Long Way to Go	176	(1)
Reflections on the Exercise-Obesity Paradox	177	(1)
The Lifestyle-Health Status Paradox	178	(4)
12 Health Policy Relevance, Future Scenarios, and Conclusions	182	(19)
The Research-Health Policy Interface	182	(3)
Assessing National Programs Targeting Lifestyles	185	(2)
Health Promotion and Aging: It's Never Too Late	187	(4)
So What Is a Healthy Lifestyle?	191	(1)
Limitations, Research Gaps, and Challenges	192	(5)
Conclusion and Future Scenarios	197	(4)
Appendix	201	(24)
References	225	(16)
Index	241