Healthy Aging

	See Also: • Healthy Aging At A Glance 2004 • Healthy Aging Web Site

Effects of an Aging Population 

The life expectancy of Americans increased from 47 years in 1900 to 77 years in 2000. As a result, the number of people in America aged 65 or older increased from 3 million in 1900 to nearly 35 million in 1996—an 11-fold increase. By 2030, the number will have doubled to 70 million when one in five Americans will be older than 65.

Although the risk for disease and disability clearly increases with age, poor health is not an inevitable consequence of aging. People with a healthy lifestyle (i.e., people who get regular exercise, avoid tobacco use, and eat healthily) have half the risk for disability of those who do not have a healthy lifestyle. 

• Chronic diseases among older adults impose hard demands on the public health system and on medical and social services. Chronic diseases cause disabilities and diminish quality of life. They are also a major contributor to health care costs.
• In 1994, chronic conditions decreased the quality of life for nearly 40% of the elderly not living in institutions—nearly 12 million people. Of those 12 million, 3 million (about 10% of all the elderly) were unable to perform some activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, shopping, dressing, eating), thus placing care-giving demands on family and friends.
• More than 65% of Americans aged 65 years or older have some form of cardiovascular disease; half of all men and two-thirds of all women older than 70 have arthritis.

Costs

Almost one-third of U.S. health care costs, or $300 billion each year, are for older adults. Not including the costs of inflation and new technology, health care spending will increase by 25% between 2000 and 2030 simply because a larger percentage of the population is older than 65.

 
CDC Goal

To increase the number of Americans 65 or older who are physically active, eat a healthy diet, and avoid tobacco use. 

Program Effectiveness

One example of a worthwhile investment is an arthritis control intervention. According to one Northern California study, for every $1 spent on the Arthritis Self-Help Program, $3.42 was saved in the cost of hospitalizations and visits to physicians.

Examples of CDC Activities

• To combine activities to prevent disease among older adults, CDC is developing new partnerships and strengthening old ones with agencies and organizations that serve older adults. For example
  • CDC brings together the prevention expertise of public health agencies and the aging services network of the Administration on Aging.
•  Through its Prevention Research Centers network and longstanding partnerships with state health departments, CDC is putting promising prevention strategies into effect in communities across America. For example
  • Northwest Prevention Effectiveness Center at the University of Washington is working with senior centers to help people older than 65 exercise more, eat well, and preserve their independence.

 
Related Information

One or more documents on this Web page is available in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need Acrobat Reader (a free application) to view and print these documents.

• Exemplary State Programs — Arthritis (129K–PDF)
• Exemplary State Programs — Cancer Control (148K–PDF)
• Exemplary State Programs — Diabetes (125K–PDF)
• Exemplary State Programs — Heart Disease and Stroke (132K–PDF)

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This page last reviewed August 10, 2004

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion