Friday, August 7, 2009

Shiny Happy Old People


Today I am shedding some "lyte" on aging. The Pew Research Center has released an interesting poll on aging in American. A greater number of older adults reported that they don't feel that old. Where do they live? The West.

Apparently the fountain of youth is located west of the Mississippi. More than 2/3 of the respondents who resided in the West felt younger than their chronological, compared with 57% of those that lived elsewhere. Not only did older Americans living in the West feel younger, they felt they enjoyed better health. Again by a significant margin.

The older Americans in the west also exercised more. In addition to daily mobility, they also showed a propensity to move more often, with only 23% having stayed put in one community their entire lives. But perhaps as a result of this mobility, they don't see their families as much.

The only drawback that older, Western Americans reported was feeling less respected than their counterparts in the Midwest, Northeast, and South. Maybe it is because they don't look or act old enough?

So, are you a retiree who needs a new lease on life? Just follow the setting sun.


No comments:

Post a Comment