<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Vern Weitzel</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vern.weitzel@gmail.com">vern.weitzel@gmail.com</a>></span><br>crosspsted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" <a href="mailto:health-vn@anu.edu.au">health-vn@anu.edu.au</a><br>
<br><br><br>Within the next 30 years, the number of people worldwide who are over age 65<br>years will double, according to a new report, "An Aging World: 2008."<br><br>Currently there are 506 million people over age 65; by 2040 there will be an<br>
estimated 1.3 billion, representing 14% of the world population. Within 10<br>years, for the first time in human history, the number of people in the world<br>aged 65 years and older will exceed that of children under five. The<br>
implications for chronic diseases in developing countries are enormous.<br><br>The most rapid increases in the older population are in the developing world,<br>where the current rate of growth of the older population is more than double<br>
that in developed countries, and is also double that of the total world<br>population. As of 2008, 62% of people aged 65 and older lived in developing<br>countries; by 2040, 76% of the projected world total of people aged 65 and over<br>
will live in developing countries. The oldest old, people aged 80 and older, are<br>the fastest growing portion of the total population in many countries. Globally,<br>the oldest old population is projected to increase 233% between 2008 and 2040,<br>
compared with 160% for the population aged 65 and over and 33% for the total<br>population of all ages.<br><br>In many countries, people 80 and older are the fastest growing portion of the<br>population. Between 2008 and 2040, that segment of the population is projected<br>
to increase 233%, compared with 160% for those age 65 and older, and 33% for the<br>total world population.<br><br>In 2008, nearly one-third of the population age 65 and older lived in China and<br>India alone, where issues related to population aging are anticipated to be<br>
especially acute.<br><br>Among the consequences of this trend, are increasing numbers of adults,<br>especially in developed countries, who do not have children and thus will lack<br>familial support and care as they age. Conversely, older adults can potentially<br>
contribute assistance to their adult children, whether financial or through<br>activities like household work and grandchild care.<br><br>"An Aging World: 2008" provide detailed information on life expectancy, health,<br>
disability, gender balance, marital status, living arrangements, education and<br>literacy, labor force participation and retirement, and pensions among older<br>people around the world, and examines demographic and socioeconomic trends<br>
accompanying this phenomenon. It was commissioned by the National Institute on<br>Aging (NIA), which is part of the National Institutes of Health. It was released<br>on 21 July 2009 by the US Census Bureau.<br><br>An Aging World: 2008<br>
PDF (11.55 MB): <a href="http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p95-09-1.pdf" target="_blank">www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p95-09-1.pdf</a><br><br></div>