And once again: The other day, on my favourite radio show 🙂 … I heard about a new study in the USA that investigated or asked how old Americans over 40 feel on average. After a short teaser, music was played again and I had time to think about it.
“Well, it will probably be 5-10 years less“, was my guess. And then came the shocking denouement:
Americans over 40 feel on average 12 years older than they are.
WHAAAAAT???
My toothbrush fell out of my hand because of the shock. (Have you ever choked on toothpaste? I tell you, it really burns…)
According to this study, the result is broken down as follows:
- Members of ‘Generation X’ (born between 1965 and 1980) feel on average 10 years older than they are.
- ‘Baby boomers‘ (born between 1946 and 1964) feel on average 14 years older than they are.
- The Americans of the ‘Silent Generation’ (1928 to 1945, characterised above all by the Second World War and referred to as the ‘silent generation’, since it was sometimes dangerous to express thoughts openly) feel on average 12 years older than they are.
I immediately thought of all the cool, fit, active over-40s I know and came to the conclusion that this study was complete nonsense and could not be representative… or that there must be a difference between German or European and American over-40s.
In fact, the latter is not too far-fetched considering, for example, that three quarters of people in America are overweight and almost half are obese – people do too little exercise and eat too much fast food; apparently now even more than before, because according to another study, 10 per cent of Americans gained more than 25 kg during the pandemic.
In Germany and Europe, a good half of the population is overweight and around 20 percent are obese – still far too many, but significantly fewer than in America.
In addition to many other serious, long-term problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancer, obesity leads to misaligned joints, osteoarthritis, overloading of tendons and bones, chronic back and other pain. While many of the consequences of being overweight may only become noticeable later on and initially remain ‘silent’ and unrecognised, I imagine that mechanical problems in joints and bones are the first to get ‘loud‘. Chronic pain and a restricted range of motion would at least be an obvious explanation for why these people feel much older than they are so early on already (at 40).
Now, what can we learn from this?
In a nutshell: Regular exercise, a healthy, balanced diet and sufficient sleep are three key factors that not only keep the body healthy (for a longer time), but also make us feel younger than we are.
It doesn’t have to be Attack or Pump – regular walks or easy bike rides are a great way to gently introduce your body to more exercise. Or you could try a low-impact programme such as Shapes, Yoga or Pilates. If necessary, you could even hire a CSO or apply for the job yourself and kill two birds with one stone (more exercise and more money!!! 😀 )
From my side and from all the over-40s in my circle of family and friends, I can only say this:
Over 40 is sooooo FIBEEEER!
So – let’s party, baby!
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