Statistics show the generation known as Baby Boomers are entering retirement age overweight and financially strapped in N.C. Oh, and they’re using drugs more than their parents or their children.
“This is a population that was involved in drug use in their 20s or 30s and have just continued using,” said Pete Delany, director for the Office of Applied Studies at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
A federal studies snapshot taken between 2002 and 2007 showed that illegal drug use by people in their 50s has increased by 46 percent over a five-year period, from about one in 20 to about one in 10.
“Everybody in that group was in the baby boom generation, and there was almost a doubling of drug use,” Delaney said.
Wow.
State health statistics show the 55- to 64-year-old Tar Heels exercise less than younger groups. Also, with retirement around the corner, they are more likely than any other group to gamble once or more a week.
In Mecklenburg County, the state Division of Aging and Adult Services predicts that by 2030 the population age 65 and older will increase 181 percent to 189,416 people.
