Our life expectancy is increasing, yet adults today are less healthy than their previous generations.
The research
6,000 adults from Doetinchem were examined for the study. They were divided into four 'generations':20 to 29 years, 30 to 39 years, 40 to 49 years and 50 to 59 years. When a participant moved on to an older generation, their old data was compared with someone who had just entered the category.
Health
Adults were more likely to be overweight, obese and have high blood pressure than the generation born 10 years earlier. The generation around 40 is now just as likely to be obese as the group around 55. This means that the younger generation is, as it were, 15 years ahead of the older generation and has been dealing with obesity for longer.
