The years that make up your 20s should be filled with action, achievement and good health, but according to a recent CDC report on men and women ages 18 to 29, the reality is much bleaker. Hopefully, the following information scares you straight into good health (if you’re not there already).
When wading through the health statistics on young adults, the CDC found that:
Percentage of young-adult smokers: 29% of men and 21% of women
Rate of obesity: 1 in 4 of young adults are obese; 28% more are overweight but not obese. Obesity rates for young adults have tripled between 1971-1974 and 2005-2006.
Incidence of physical activity: Only 36% of young adults get regular physical activity in their spare time. That's better than the rate for older adults but below national goals. Only 26% of young adults perform strength training.
Rate of health insurance: About a third of young adults were uninsured
Top cause of death: Unintentional injuries, which kill about 40 per 100,000 young adults annually
The new CDC report isn’t only about young adults. Here's a quick look at some of the health stats for the nation as a whole:
Life expectancy is up. Life expectancy for babies born is 78.1 years, a record high. Life expectancy is still lower for men than for women and for African-Americans than for whites, but those gaps are narrowing. And among 37 countries and territories that submitted life expectancy data in 2004, the U.S. ranked 23rd for men and 25th for women (Hong Kong was No. 1 for men and Japan was No. 1 for women.)
Top causes of death: Deaths from heart disease, stroke, and cancer continue to drop but are still the nation's top three causes of death.
Aging: People aged 75 and older make up 6% of the national population and their ranks will double by 2050, the CDC predicts.