Baby boomtime

• on an individual level it threatens the physical, social and economic wellbeing of many in this group and compromises their chances of experiencing positive ageing;
• for the nation the association between obesity and chronic disease, disability and dementia has implications for the health care system. Australia is faced with a doubling of its population aged 65 over within the next two decades, which by itself will place huge pressure on the health system. However if baby boomers enter older ages with higher levels of obesity than previous generations it will place even greater pressure on the health system;
• in addition Australia faces a doubling of the ratio of number of aged persons to those in the working age groups over the next quarter century. Among the major strategies which Australia and other OECD governments have identified to meet this challenge is increasing levels of workforce participation in older age groups. Such strategies will be heavily compromised if the obesity related health of these workers prevent them from working; and
• baby boomers are a critical workforce group contributing substantially to Australia’s business capacity, experience and productivity and obesity threatens the extent to which this capacity is harnessed and passed on to future generations of workers.

In summary the unprecedented high levels of obesity among Australian baby boomers represents an issue of national importance. Moreover because the window of opportunity to intervene to reduce levels of obesity among this group, before they enter retirement is rapidly closing, creating a sense of real urgency to the problem.

Obesity among baby boomers is caused by a complex set of interacting economic, social, environmental, cultural and health forces. It will require intervention across a diverse range of areas such as work environment, work arrangements, work-life balance, health promotion, nutrition, disease prevention, planning of residential areas and social support.

Another area where baby boomers differ from previous generations entering retirement relates to their family and household situation. As indicated earlier, while many Australians live their final years alone up to a quarter of baby boomers could enter retirement alone. They have fewer children than earlier generations and the likelihood that those children live in another state or territory or even overseas is greater than for any earlier generation of older Australians.

What does this mean for the incidence of loneliness and isolation among older people? Moreover the bulk of care for older Australians with disability or chronic illness is currently provided by family members. Clearly the extent to which this source of care can be drawn upon by baby boomers is influenced by the higher levels of divorce/separation, smaller number of children and stronger likelihood that children will not live nearby.

It has been possible in the space available here to only examine a few of the ways in which baby boomers are different from previous generations of older Australians which are likely to influence their lives in older age and impinge on wider Australian society.

They are distinctive in a myriad of social, economic and cultural ways and in their attitudes, preferences and tastes. All will impinge on how they tackle the changes of older age. Some will present challenges, others opportunities. The latter are often overlooked but there are undoubtedly opportunities arising out of the ageing of baby boomers. They are the most cashed up generation to enter old age while one would not want to overlook important economic differences within baby boomers and they are a crucially important consumer market.

Their potential for providing economic impetus to communities which they move to and live in is underappreciated. The wealth of experience and knowledge they have accumulated presents enormous opportunities for community building, enhancing social capital, volunteerism and entering social and community cohesion.