Understanding current and future patterns of population health of Canadians necessitates consideration of the ‘baby boom generation,’ given its size and placement within the age structure. The cohorts that comprise the baby boom are the largest in Canadian history, and those in the leading one are anticipated to reach their 60th birthday in 2006, their 65th by the year 2011, and their 75th in 2021. By 2031, the full ‘boomer’ generation will be over the age of 65, and the front cohort will have turned 85. While many stereotypes persist concerning the characteristics of baby boomers that are present in...

The theoretical basis for research into the population health dynamics of baby boomers draws from the Social Change Model developed by Riley (1993). This framework integrates principle elements ofage stratification,life course, andcohortapproaches to the study of population aging, and applies these concepts to the examination of population health (see McPherson, 2004, for a more complete discussion). Age-stratification of populations, at least in its earlier formulation, relies on cross-sectional information to understand agerelated patterns of behaviour or strata at one point in time. It typically entails comparing age-related differences: for example, age patterns in the prevalence of...

How are healthy lifestyles developed, sustained, and changed as we age? There are a number of theoretical approaches that have either directly or indirectly addressed this question. The current stage of development in theoretical knowledge is one in which synthesis of ideas, often from multidisciplinary fields with differing foci, is occurring. As previously discussed in Chapter 2, the Social Change Model integrates elements of age stratification, life course, and cohort approaches to the study of health behaviour. This model is dynamic in its recognition of interlocking spheres of individual and structural factors that manifest themselves in changing cohort experiences and...

Evidence has been accumulating for the last 50 years that smoking tobacco products have serious deleterious health effects. In the mid-1960s, the U.S. surgeon general’s office began to make unqualified announcements concerning the harmful effects of tobacco (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Parallel developments were occurring in Canada at approximately the same time. According to the 2000/01 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), approximately 22% of Canadians aged 15 and over smoke regularly, down almost one-half from about 40% in the late 1970s. However, while smoking prevalence rates have decreased in both the United States and Canada since...

The type of age-period-cohort analysis employed in this book is based on sequential cross-sectional surveys (Wolinsky, 1993). Standard measures across multiple survey dates are required, typically a minimum of three (Glenn, 1977). Extending research conducted by Kendall, Lipskie, and MacEachern (1997), a total of 27 national Canadian surveys that incorporated questions on health and related variables of interest were identified for possible inclusion in this research. Each survey was evaluated in terms of availability of data covering the four key domains for this research: lifestyle health behaviours, chronic conditions, health utilization, and socio-economic variables. The potential for standard measure construction...

In this chapter, patterns of healthy lifestyles are analysed for the adult Canadian population in order to identify age, period, and cohort changes in these important dimensions of health behaviour. While the focus of this book is on the baby boom generation, it is first necessary to examine the total population in this type of analysis before turning specifically to the boomers in subsequent chapters. This is because identification of particular age-time patterns necessitates demonstration of repeated trends. Furthermore, analysis of the complete adult Canadian population affords opportunity to investigate various age-sex groups as they move along the age escalator,...

This chapter examines period changes in four measures of chronic illness (total chronic conditions, hypertension, arthritis, and diabetes), as well as doctor visits. Measures of chronic illness were not collected in the 1985 and 1990 HPS. Since these measures are only available in surveys that are not evenly spaced over a significant period of time – the 1978/79 CHS, 1994/95 NPHS, 1998/99NPHS, and 2000/01 CCHS – a full age-period-cohort analysis is not possible. Only period trends are presented to show changes in rates over time. Male and female rates are discussed separately. Two types of comparisons of rates are made: (1) absolute...

This chapter focuses specifically on the baby boomers in an effort to identify major shifts in health behaviours, chronic conditions, and health utilization as these individuals move up the age escalator. The primary purpose of this analysis is to determine how well baby boomers are aging in midlife by comparing their health dynamics against persons of the same age in earlier periods. This also will allow for predictions about future health care demands in Canada. We selected two 10-year age groups approximating younger and older baby boomers. Although this division is arbitrary, it allows for separation of the baby boom...

This chapter examines the lifestyle behaviours of the baby boomers, but with a concentration on socio-economic status, regional, and foreign-born status variations. We begin with socio-economic variables (education and income). This is followed with analyses based on five regions, including the Maritimes, or Atlantic provinces (Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick), Quebec, Ontario, the Prairie provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta), and British Columbia. Finally, a foreign-born status dichotomy is used to address potential immigration effects on baby boomer health dynamics. It should be noted that all tables mentioned in this chapter can be found in the Appendix. Only...

We started this journey by asking questions about how the baby boomers are aging, and, the broader question, how lifestyles are developed, sustained, and changed as we age. The Social Change Model forms the theoretical backbone of the analyses conducted in this book. This model offers a dynamic method to the understanding of the interconnections of individual and structural factors by means of amalgamating elements of age stratification, life course, and cohort approaches to the study of aging. A fundamental axiom at the core of this perspective is that population health is moulded and remoulded as successive cohorts move through...

Our study of baby boomers, as well as the full Canadian population, has revealed a number of complex health trends. Although we have observed considerable variation across age cohorts, gender, socio-economic status, region, foreign-born status, and time period, several definitive patterns have surfaced. There has been a substantially lower rate of smoking, unhealthy exercise, and heavy drinking between the late 1970s and the early 2000s. Concomitantly, there has been an unprecedented sharp rise in obesity. Additionally, we have witnessed a modest incline in the total number of chronic conditions over this time period with particularly dramatic increases in diabetes. Doctor...

There is a growing awareness that research plays a pivotal role in the construction and revision of health policies. Earlier chapters have featured a number of studies that investigate aspects of healthy lifestyles by means of comparative analyses across two points in time. While findings from those studies are insightful, using any two surveys by themselves – such as only the 1978/79 CHS and 1998/99 NPHS – does not uncover the level of specificity and knowledge required to identify important patterns that may lie ahead. Indeed, using only two points with cross-sectional trend data may mask important shifts in behaviours and outcomes...