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Generation X risk dying before parents
The Advertiser ^ | 6/11/06 | Staff

Posted on 06/11/2006 3:51:50 PM PDT by qam1

GENERATION Xs are at risk of dying before their parents with a new Australian study showing they are becoming obese faster than any other age group.

The Sydney University study found adults born between 1966 and 1970 were putting on weight more rapidly than baby boomers and adults of the pre-war generations.

Diet and lack of physical activity have been blamed for the Generation Xs being more prone to plumpness, having grown up with television, computer games, fast food restaurants and larger meal sizes.

The findings have sparked calls for health campaigns which specifically target Generation Xs and their children, who are also believed to be at risk.

Commissioned by New South Wales Health, the Weight of Time study analysed data from three national health surveys to determine the effect ageing and generation had on weight gain. The three groups studied were born from 1966 to 1970, 1951 to 1955 and 1936 to 1940.

The study found the Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure incorporating weight and height, rose in adults of all generations over a 10-year period.

But the largest increases occurred in adults born between 1966 and 1970.

The study predicted 88per cent of men and 61 per cent of women born during this time would be overweight by 2010.

Australians born during WWI, WWII and during the Great Depression were found to have the lowest BMI growth.

Unlike Generation Xs, baby boomers and pre-war babies grew up in an environment when food was more scarce and higher levels of activity were required.

Author Dr Adrian Bauman, a public health professor from Sydney University and director of the Centre for Physical Activity and Health, said the results of the study were of great concern.

"We found the rate of weight gain among young adults is accelerating faster than in other generations," he said.

"At the rate at which some young adults are putting on weight, we could hypothetically see them dying before their parents."

Dr Bauman said the children of Generation Xs were also at risk as they had grown up with similarly sedentary lifestyles.

NSW Health Minister John Hatzistergos said young adults who failed to change their lifestyle habits risked acquiring illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

Sarah-Jane Bedingfield, 37, was born in the Generation X-era, but her lifestyle is far from sedentary.

The Manly mother-of-two credits her parents for ensuring that she had an active and healthy childhood, values she hopes to pass on to her sons - Thomas, four, and Harrison, one.

"I grew up with ballet and still play tennis and go to the gym," she said. "I think the happiest children are the ones who are active andhealthy."

Lisa Porter, a 32-year-old production TV co-ordinator from Drummoyne, also defies the Generation X trend.

"I cycle to work and I don't spend much time in front of the TV," she said. "Also, my mother has never given us processed food and I only have junk food if I have a hangover."


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government
KEYWORDS: genx; getoffthecouch; health; healthnazis; pufflist
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To: microgood
These are a bunch of arrogant bureaucrats in search of a cause, searching for someone to order around and harass.

You're absolutely right. These are people that have failed in life but still feel the need to control others.

21 posted on 06/11/2006 4:48:25 PM PDT by CAWats (And I will make no distinction between terrorists and the democrats.)
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To: qam1

Please add me...


22 posted on 06/11/2006 5:02:21 PM PDT by FreeManWhoCan (---an American in Maimi..............)
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To: qam1
Nanny state idiocy.

What the article does not mention is that the definitions of obesity were recently redefined. If you're not rail-thin, you're considered obese.

I hit my ideal weight in the 6th grade (going by the current scale). Muscle, body structure, etc....don't count. I have a friend that is 200-ish pounds, and not an ounce of fat on him. He bikes hundreds of miles a week and is in top shape. His doc tried to put him on a diet because he was 'obese'. My friend fired the guy, and found a new doc.

23 posted on 06/11/2006 5:07:48 PM PDT by wbill
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To: qam1

"The Manly mother-of-two credits her....."


Sounds like the reporter is trying to tell us something or he needs to rephrase this.


24 posted on 06/11/2006 5:18:00 PM PDT by RedMonqey (LIberal Agenda : "You've got it, I want it, you owe me,")
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To: Tall_Texan
"....there will be a whole host of new and better medicines and treatments for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, etc."


These are just TREATMENTS, not cures. They will extended their life to a point but far short of a healthy person and without the "quality of life" their parents had.


Unless you think being obesely fat, stuck on the couch b/c of the gravitational pull of your own weight and watching endless reruns on TV is a fun lifestyle for your children I'd advise drop the chips and wiggle the hips.
25 posted on 06/11/2006 5:27:55 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Liberal Agenda : "You've got it, I want it, you owe me,")
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To: Hildy
"I'll straighten out this obesity mess."


26 posted on 06/11/2006 5:36:34 PM PDT by Cobra64 (All we get are lame ideas from Republicans and lame criticism from dems about those lame ideas.)
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To: RedMonqey

You missed the point.

The article proclaims Gen Xers will die before their parents. That's BS. I'm not arguing that obesity is good or that people need not take health issues seriously.

You, yourself, retort that new medications will extend lives. So doesn't that negate the very premise of the article? It didn't say "Gen Xers will live worse than their parents". It says "Gen Xers will DIE before their parents". Big difference.


27 posted on 06/11/2006 5:45:17 PM PDT by Tall_Texan (I wish a political party would come along that thinks like I do.)
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To: qam1

Not me! 6'1" and 180lbs, age 33 (as of today) and working on shedding 5 more pounds!


28 posted on 06/11/2006 7:25:57 PM PDT by xrp (Fox News Channel: MISSING WHITE GIRL NETWORK)
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To: Tall_Texan

Ahh! But, Gen X has always been given this kind of treatment. We're lazy. We stupid. I remember just entering high school and hearing how we were now counting on the next generation to help the world. The next generation being the kids in kindergarten at the time. They already had given up on Generation X and were focusing on the next bunch before we even had a real chance to get out there.


29 posted on 06/11/2006 7:36:26 PM PDT by HungarianGypsy ("Guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O' Donnell fat.")
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To: Cobra64

Oh my gosh, I nearly hurled! Where is the barf alert?


30 posted on 06/11/2006 8:13:11 PM PDT by Joan912 (why the silence?)
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To: GeorgiaDawg32
This is not an original thought, but fast food is evil because the birkenstockers are affronted that a large population can be fed by private enterprise. Wal-Mart is evil because the gimmicrats are appalled that a large population can be clothed without the State in charge of logistics and distribution.
31 posted on 06/11/2006 11:22:43 PM PDT by ashtanga
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To: qam1

That makes sense. Boomerz wore me out..


32 posted on 06/12/2006 5:07:29 AM PDT by LubyGee (Insert something witty)
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To: qam1
I know the American diet is poor in many ways. The usage of corn syrup, hydrogenated oils are a big factor in addition to high fat foods. I look at many labels of food products and these two ingredients are most commonly used.

The other day, I was at Fazoli's and inquired if they used olive oil and the response is no. When I cook, I use olive oil in place of butter in food preparation.

I am now 40 years old. About 5 years ago, I decided to get off the couch, give up the McD's and other fast food and started to bike. I dropped my weight from 170 lbs down to as low as 135 but usually hover around 145 lbs. I started to feel better and quit having problems with heartburn. I also gave up soda pop and switched to ice tea and eventually to water.
33 posted on 06/12/2006 5:29:28 AM PDT by CORedneck
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To: Tall_Texan
I don't want to sound antagonistic(especially against a tall Texan) but have heart disease, diabetes and being obese is not a healthy lifestyle our parents or grandparents knew , at least not until after old age. I'm not talking just being a big person(both my grandfathers and a great grandfather were big people who worked hard and ate heartily)).

I'm talking a people like the original person in the preceding pic photo-shopped into Kennedy. This person in an in earlier age would be a rarity and often seen in freak shows in the role of "fat man" or woman at the circus.


This person I can safly assume nrarely goes outside,cannot do so under his own power and cannot hold down a job(could be wrong) No one can seriously say this person has a "normal" life.
34 posted on 06/12/2006 2:16:01 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Liberal Agenda : "You've got it, I want it, you owe me,")
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To: Tall_Texan

PS

By the way don't count me among those who blame it all on fast food.


Out Southern forebearers ate greasey, calorie ladden food in large amounts. The difference between them and us is they worked from sun up to sun down, did't have central heating and air conditioning and if they wanted "fast food" they had to catch it or shoot themselves and then cook it.


35 posted on 06/12/2006 2:21:30 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Liberal Agenda : "You've got it, I want it, you owe me,")
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To: RedMonqey

We seem to be talking past each other. I'm not defending what you're attacking and I'm not attacking what you are defending.

Of course obesity exists and of course it's an unhealthy condition. I have seen a lot of extra-large people where I work that concern me how they'll be as they get older.

One of my co-workers died last year at this time of a heart attack. He was 39 years old and about 35 pounds overweight. I know what's at stake.

I simply disagree with the contention that Generation X is going to die before their parents will. That's just alarmism, the same sort as we've seen with overpopulation scares (the 1970s) global warming (the 1990s-present), SARS (2005) and the bird flu (2006).

If people aren't smart enough to change their dietary and exercise habits on their own, with all the evidence available, why should the government force them to change? Why should we empower the government to do that?

This is the point of almost all scare stories - to soften the people up for government intrusion. There's another story on FR today where some British doctors are calling for "fat" taxes on soft drinks. THAT'S what you are buying into if you accept blindly the alarmism coming from these types of studies.


36 posted on 06/12/2006 3:21:43 PM PDT by Tall_Texan (I wish a political party would come along that thinks like I do.)
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To: qam1
The study found the Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure incorporating weight and height, rose in adults of all generations over a 10-year period.

BMI is a load of crap and is a flawed method for measuring obesity.

37 posted on 06/12/2006 3:41:31 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (You go to Heaven for the climate; Hell for the company and conversation.)
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To: Tall_Texan
I agree with you it is alarmist and there are those who seek to profit off of it and push their hidden socialist agenda using this as a method to their madness.

Amazing how higher taxes are the "cure all" for what liberals and socialist think whatever ills plague this world.

However I believe there is no denying GenX is getting fatter, more lazy and,IMHO, more ignorant than generations past.
I see it everytime I go to a public area and just observe the crowds. Sincerely Red
38 posted on 06/12/2006 6:34:15 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Liberal Agenda : "You've got it, I want it, you owe me,")
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To: GeorgiaDawg32

No doubt. They are putting pressure on burger restaurants to serve "smaller portions." Funny, it seems to me the portions have generally stayed the same for years. A Big Mac is the same old Big Mac that's been around for 30 plus years.


39 posted on 06/20/2006 5:49:42 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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To: Cobra64

That is completely disgusting .... and very, very funny as well!


40 posted on 06/20/2006 5:50:32 PM PDT by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
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