A new study indicates that obesity could become a major cause of disability among today’s baby boomers.
Researchers from the University of California recently used survey information to compare disability rates among people in their sixties from two different time periods. They found that the group in the more recent time period had higher obesity rates and were far more likely to have problems walking or even getting out of bed.
Obesity can have a direct negative effect on joints and the cardiovascular system, and both of these problems can render an older person disabled.
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The study also compared people in their seventies and eighties between the same two time periods, but didn’t show an increase in their disability rates.
Researchers did not pinpoint the exact reason why obesity and disability were higher among the newer generation of people in their sixties. But study author Teresa Seeman said the information shows that a 20-year trend of older people functioning better than ever before could be ending.
