Majikthise points to an interesting article about the probably not-so-good health of baby boomers. Unlike most articles that discuss obesity, this one doesn’t blame people for being fat – it looks at the lifestyle choices left open to them because of income.

“A lot of what we visualize about the baby boomers are the people who went to college — the highly educated group that gets all the attention. They’re the cultural icon,” said David R. Weir, an economist at the University of Michigan, noting that studies have shown that better-educated people tend to have more healthful lifestyles and better access to health care. “But not everyone went to college, and not everyone is engaging in these healthful activities.”

Majikthise summarized it like this:

We may be seeing long-term fallout from years of heightened economic insecurity and social isolation, coupled with increasingly sedentary lifestyles and less physically demanding work–and the least well off are probably going to be the hardest hit.

Not the most encouraging news. This could be a problem for our healthcare system. On the other hand, people could just be whinier:

It is unclear whether boomers are really sicker or are simply more health-conscious by dint of being better educated and having better access to information. They may also have higher expectations, making them more likely to notice and complain about aches and pains that earlier generations would have accepted as just part of getting older.