Millennials aging faster than boomers and Gen X

An article last week in The Korea Times reports that millennials are aging faster than previous generations, specifically, Gen X and boomers.

This is a trend that was first noted in 2020 in the U.S. via a large study by insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield. But in the years since, the same trend has become obvious in major Asian societies, including Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Aging in this case is not the kind that's measured by biological aging clocks that I talk about often. Rather, it's more familiar age-related conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Such conditions are now increasingly common in people in their 30s and 40s, while in previous generations they started appearing only after age 50 or 60.

What's going on? According to the article, behavioral factors are largely to blame:

"A number of factors contribute to this phenomenon, such as consuming large amounts of ubiquitous processed foods, including sugary snacks; physical inactivity; stress; poor work-life balance; and financial difficulties."

If you are a millennial, born between 1981 and 1996, then consider this a warning to eat healthier, move more, and go see some friends, rather than stressing about work, alone in front of the computer. You’ve probably heard this advice many times before. But at least on an aggregate level, it doesn’t seem to have sunk in yet.

On the other hand, if you were born before 1981 (the cutoff for not being a millennial), you can take this as encouragement that age really is just a number, and that being in your 20s or 30s, at least as it is today, is not all you remember it being.