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2 Changing Landscape: Demographics, Health Status, and Nutritional Needs
Pages 3-18

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From page 3...
... Mary Ann Johnson, Bill and Jane Flatt professor in foods and nutrition, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, and interim director, Institute of Gerontology, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, then discussed healthy aging as not only living a long life but also living in good health, and reviewed several different methodological approaches researchers have been using to identify biomarkers of healthy aging. THE CHANGING FACE OF OLDER AMERICANS: KEY INDICATORS OF WELL‑BEING1 Drawing exclusively on the most recent report of the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-related Statistics (2016)
From page 4...
... The population aged 85 and over is projected to see rapid growth after 2030 as the baby boomers enter this age range. Compared with about 100,000 in 1900, Madans noted, an
From page 5...
... expected 20 million people over age 85 will be living in the United States by 2060 according to projections. Madans explained that the future projections illustrated in Figure 2-1 -- for example, that 90 million people aged 65 and older are projected out to 2060 -- are a function of assumptions about mortality rates.
From page 6...
... . Economic Indicators Madans reported that since 1974 there has been a relatively large increase in the percentage of the population aged 65 and over living at 400 percent or greater above the federal poverty threshold.
From page 7...
... Health Status Madans noted that health status indicators include life expectancy, which since 1981 and at both ages 65 and 85 has increased for both women and men and among both the white and black populations. Additionally, she pointed out, variation in life expectancy among these groups (at both ages 65 and 85)
From page 8...
... She believes these issues should be considered in evaluating mortality statistics based on underlying causes of death in populations with multiple chronic conditions. The most prevalent chronic health conditions in the noninstitutionalized population aged 65 and older are similar to the leading causes of death, Madans observed.
From page 9...
... Health Care Health care expenditure data indicate large age differences in spending on health care over time, Madsen reported, with people aged 85 and older spending the most but with the differences between the older age groups becoming smaller over time (i.e., from 1992 to 2012)
From page 10...
... Madans suggested that what people eat while they watch television may explain many of the trends she had described. Finally, Madans reported that leisure time spent socializing and communicating decreases with age, from 11 percent of leisure time among those 55-64 and 65-74 to 9 percent among those 75 and older, while time spent reading increases, from 7 percent and 9 percent in the 55-64 and 65-74 age groups, respectively, to 14 percent among those 75 and older.
From page 11...
... Over the course of the lives of many people living today, she said, living conditions have improved. This improvement, she observed, has resulted in decreased mortality, relaxed evolutionary pressures for early survival and reproduction, greater resource investment in body maintenance and repair, and increased average life expectancies and maximum lifespans (Westendorp, 2006)
From page 12...
... They also include genetic markers. But what becomes increasingly important as people age, Johnson asserted, both for older adults themselves and for the people who care for them, is physical and mental capability, including concerns about averting cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, maintaining independence (e.g., being able to live in one's own home and do things by oneself)
From page 13...
... The data examined for this study came from the Cardiovascular Health Study, an ongoing study of risk for cardiovascular disease in about 6,000 participants aged 65 and older. Through a series of analyses, Johnson explained, the researchers identified five indicators of mortality: (1)
From page 14...
... . They combined these five indicators by assigning each a score of 0, 1, or 2 based on clinical cutoff, with a maximum Healthy Aging Index score of 10 for an individual.
From page 15...
... Johnson also encouraged greater participation in the national conversation on health economy. For example, she observed, several of the quality care measures for affordable care organizations (e.g., depression, HbA1c, blood pressure, heart failure, cardiovascular disease)
From page 16...
... She wanted to know what is going on in terms of nutrition, she said, "in these very expensive facilities." Madans replied that she saw this as an interesting question from an operational point of view. She noted that assisted living facilities vary in characteristics and usually are not considered institutions, so the people living in them are not part of the institutional population.
From page 17...
... Research to Design Better Nutritional Programs for the Aging Population Dwyer asked Madans her view on the best way for the National Center for Health Statistics to use additional resources, should they become available, to design better nutritional programs for the aging population. Madans replied that no one thing would lead to everyone living longer, healthier lives.
From page 18...
... The audience member then added that, in addition to nutrition, chronic stress and cortisol play important roles in healthy aging to the extent that they affect what people eat and how nutritious it is, and commented on the difference between raw food and highly prepared, packaged foods, particularly with respect to the level of acrylamide in prepared foods. Johnson replied that as some people age, they lose their ability to chew and that certain kinds of processing are among the modifications made to keep food safe and accessible for these people.


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