Sunday, March 11, 2007

Over 65? Not so healthy...

According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly 80% of those over 65 have at least one chronic condition and about 50 % have at least two.

You can go to the CDC interactive site and check your state and others HERE

You can also view the information by indicators such as:

Health Status

Physically Unhealthy Days
Frequent Mental Distress
Oral Health: Complete Tooth Loss
Disability

Health Behaviors
No Leisure-Time Physical Activity
Eating ≥ 5 Fruits and Vegetables Daily
Obesity
Current Smoking

Among the overall USA findings:

20% of people aged 65 and older are obese
Almost 33% are sedentary
25 % of the women aged 65 and older haven't had a mammogram in the last two years
Almost 6% report mental distress 14 or more days in the past month.

Interestingly, to me, it varies widely from state to state like for obesity - Iowa is high - 24% but it's not the cold winters as as Louisiana is at 25% and Maryland at 23% and they are warmer in the winter...

Check your state - it's interesting.

1 comment:

DÉJÀ-FIT: "Fit in the Body is Fit in the Mind" said...

I have enjoyed reading your article about 'Over 65? Not so healthy...'.
I work as a women's lifestyle fitness coach and just completed a fitness workshop for seniors. They realize how important exercise is to maintaining their health even if they can only perform sedentary movements.

All the best.
Alicia Howard
Deja-Fit Lifestyle Fitness Coaching for Women
www.deja-fit.blogspot.com