Archive for August, 2008

High-Tech Windshields to Aid Vision for Ageing Eyes

Lina Ko August 25th, 2008

According to Canadian Press, General Motors researchers are working on developing a windshield that combines lasers, infrared sensors and a camera to take what’s happening on the road and enhance it, so ageing drivers with vision problems are able to see a little more clearly. The 65-year-old population in North America will nearly double in about 20 years, meaning more people will be struggling to see the road like they used to. GM’s new windshield won’t improve their vision, but it will make objects stand out that could otherwise go unnoticed by an aged eye.

The windshield is designed specifically for older drivers, who have vision problems at a much higher rate than other age groups. Currently, 12.4 percent of the population in the U.S. is 65 or older, but by 2030, that percentage is projected to jump to 20 percent. Canada is pretty much in the same boat. Chrysler said the company is also working on such windshield technologies, but Ford didn’t have any similar plans.

Some cars already feature head-down displays, small screens in the dashboard that show an enhanced view of what is in front of the car. Head-up displays, so called because a driver doesn’t have to look down to see the information, are also available.

I believe that the boomer population has grown up with technology and is comfortable with technology. There is a willingness to adopt technology to make life easier. It seems like a logical extension of the boomer lifestyle to include technology that makes them safer on the road. Older adults are like adults of all ages – they want to drive and take control!

Boomers Raise the Bar in Personal Fitness

Lina Ko August 18th, 2008

From Madonna who has just turned 50 to 41-year-old Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, baby boomers are raising the bar higher than ever when it comes to fitness and physique, according to The Hamilton Spectator.  It’s a combination of nutrition, technology, science, vanity, motivation and a firm embrace of the concept that age is just a number. Personal trainers at fitness centres and gyms across the country observe that women come in all the time asking to be ‘toned’.

The obsession with fitness and muscle tone can be partially attributed to the ascent of women’s sport and the amount of attention on the Olympics have upped the profile of upper bodies. Athletes such as Canadian kayaker David Ford, 41 and French cyclist Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli, 49, come to mind. The power of celebrities as fitness role models is even stronger – Sharon Stone, 50, Demi Moore, 45, Sarah Jessica Parker, 43, and Kim Cattrall, 51.

But no pain, no gain is the usual conclusion. There’s a heavy training time commitment. You need to train every day, not just over weekends. Overtraining during weekends will just result in injury and cause the body to lose muscle because it can’t repair itself.  Then there’s nutrition. A body like Madonna’s requires strict limitations on what you eat: only about 1,400 calories a day. That means five small meals a day, consisting of fruits, vegetables and low-fat proteins such as turkey breast, chicken and tuna.

For me, it’s best to exercise regularly, eat and drink in moderation, and just stay fit to be healthy and still look good as a boomer.

Live Longer, Die Slower Around the World

Lina Ko August 11th, 2008

According to The Economist, the greying of the population is happening in both the prosperous parts of the world as well as in less well-off countries. Babies born today will have much longer life spans. By 2050, the percentage of the Indian population over 80 will have risen five-fold, and the same segment in China will have gone up six times. Such changes happen for two reasons: people’s general health is better, meaning they wear out later, and preventable deaths of the relatively young are prevented.  By 2050, close to 80 percent of all deaths in the world are expected to occur in people who are older than 60.

In spite of more and more discussions in Canada on the future of health spending due to an ageing population, some experts have started to debunk this myth. Robert Evans, a health economist at the University of British Columbia, urges policy-makers to focus their efforts elsewhere instead of spending time on preparing for a spending hike on healthcare. He says numerous studies have determined that only about 20 to 30 percent of the projected increases in healthcare spending will be attributable to the ageing of the population. The rest of the inflationary pressure is due to other factors such as rising drug costs and salaries for healthcare providers.

One reason boomers won’t bankrupt medicare is that they are living longer, healthier lives. Seniors are healthier today than a generation ago, and thus less of a burden on the health system. This extension of good health into old age is connected to the decline of smoking and improvements in the treatment of once fatal or debilitating conditions including cardiac problems, cancer and chronic diseases.

According to Professor Evans, the cost of falling ill and then dying is expensive whether you are 37 or 87 – mainly because of expensive medical attention that tends to be incurred in the final year of life, such as extended hospital stays, tests and surgical procedures.  The Globe and Mail reported that according to a 2007 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, average health costs in the final year of life are about $29,000 for men and $51,000 for women, regardless of age. The average healthy retiree, meanwhile, consumes only about $600 a year in healthcare.

Policy-makers should focus on more measures to prevent sickness and to assist individuals with long-term chronic conditions rather than coming up with drastic health reforms in fear of an ageing population crushing our healthcare system.

Boomers Exert Influence in Fashion and Beauty

Lina Ko August 5th, 2008

When boomers have made it in the fashion and beauty world, you know they’re no longer just a niche market! The Toronto Star recently reported that boomers continue to exert their influence and are estimated to represent a spending power that’s measured in the trillions of dollars.  As Monica Corcoran wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “What middle-aged woman wants to buy a moisturizer from a model  who’s too young to order a martini?”

More Magazine, a Canadian franchise magazine for women over 40, was launched just a year ago and is now surpassing its growth expectation. This fall, it will launch a French-language edition of the magazine ahead of schedule. Even modelling agencies are looking for models over the age of 35.

The fashion and beauty sector is probably the cruellest and harshest industry – external appearances mean everything and personality seldom counts. Things have changed, however. Now Rolex watches has employed model Carmen Dell’Orefice, who is in her 70s, to help sell their product in luxurious print ads. “Class is Forever,” reads the tag line. In September, J.Crew will introduce an online section within its Web catalog that features 58-year-old Los Angeles model Pia Gronning. The Danish model, with a 27-inch waist, returned to modelling full-time after a career as a successful interior designer. It was also recently announced that 64-year-old model Lauren Hutton will be one of the faces in Mango’s fall campaign. The Spanish fashion chain says the campaign will be called “We love you, Lauren.”

The current fascination with older models may never supplant our obsession with youth. Designers will still want very young, slender models on the runways. However, it’s refreshing to see the young and the mature models co-existing in this changing world.