Healthier and perkier than ever
It is time to start talking about the ‘new old-age’, according to Swedish researchers. A new study, which compares what it is like to be ‘old’ today as opposed to 30 years ago, was conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and shows that older people today have more sex, are more intelligent and more likely to be divorced.
Source: Thinkstock
It is time to start talking about the ‘new old-age’, according to Swedish researchers.
A new study, which compares what it is like to be ‘old’ today as opposed to 30 years ago, was conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and shows that older people today have more sex, are more intelligent and more likely to be divorced.
Suggesting that old age, and what we expect from it, is changing, researchers spent a number of years comparing the elderly of the 1970s with the greying population of today.
Researchers find increased levels of education have risen from 14% to almost 40% for both genders, and the elderly are now more sexually active, with the issue of sexual problems on a steep decline. However, cognitive conditions such as dementia are reportedly no more prevalent today than they were 30 years ago.
The elderly also appear to be “coping better with everyday life”, as the number needing help with cleaning drops from 25% to 12%, and only 4% are reported as needing help with personal grooming, compared to 14% in the 1970s.
But the good news may end there as, while the elderly are more outgoing than 30 years ago, it shows they are in fact lonelier.
How ‘old’ do you feel? Share your thoughts on this study by commenting in the box below.
