Another depressing thread

I agree, Whitewave and Pamela. I just mentioned the ones which came into my head.

It is a particularly depressing thread for me.
I shall be 89 in a few weeks, shall I start to spend my remaining capital, not really interested, start clearing out my drawers and wardrobes to save the family the bother or just put on my shawl, perhaps take to my bed and slowly decline, or, just enjoy what time I have left and say to hell with statistics.
Answers on a postcard please.

Usedtobeblonde

It is a particularly depressing thread for me.
I shall be 89 in a few weeks, shall I start to spend my remaining capital, not really interested, start clearing out my drawers and wardrobes to save the family the bother or just put on my shawl, perhaps take to my bed and slowly decline, or, just enjoy what time I have left and say to hell with statistics.
Answers on a postcard please.

Personally, I'd enjoy my time anyway and forget about the statistics. Remember they can only show averages. To be honest, the fact that you've made it to 89 shows that you've escaped the illnesses which get people in their 50s or 60s.

No need to be depressed Usedtobeblond you’ve already passed the healthy test. Iam presuming you are healthy?
My mum is 97, has cleared out her drawers and moved in with us. We are off to investigate a motor for her wheelchair as I’m getting a bit long in the tooth to push her up hills!

twaddle

Usedtobeblonde

It is a particularly depressing thread for me.
I shall be 89 in a few weeks, shall I start to spend my remaining capital, not really interested, start clearing out my drawers and wardrobes to save the family the bother or just put on my shawl, perhaps take to my bed and slowly decline, or, just enjoy what time I have left and say to hell with statistics.
Answers on a postcard please.

Personally, I'd enjoy my time anyway and forget about the statistics. Remember they can only show averages. To be honest, the fact that you've made it to 89 shows that you've escaped the illnesses which get people in their 50s or 60s.

Yes!

uttb you have every reason to rejoice.

Mind you, if you do rejoice, some idiot will accuse you of being smug😀😀

Such is the world that is GN.

Congratulations on your longevity.

The fact that we are aware of some of the causes eg ultra processed food, is not depressing, because we can make that change for ourselves.
How do we 'help' the younger folk?

Whitewavemark2

But what we mustn’t forget that processed food/ vaping/smoking/screens are available in all developed countries.

There is another factor at play here I think.

School meals too.

There is often a variety on offer and much of it is processed fast food.
Efforts are made to improve school meals occasionally but children will always go for the 'fast food' rather than the healthy option.

If only school dinners were free for all, offered limited but healthy choices, that would go a long way to ensure that all children had at least one healthy meal a day.
Except in the holidays, of course, which is another problem.

Have you seen what the French children have 😮😮.

If only.

Stress is a factor.

Maremia

The fact that we are aware of some of the causes eg ultra processed food, is not depressing, because we can make that change for ourselves.
How do we 'help' the younger folk?

I don't think we should concentrate on ultra processed food, to the extent that people become obsessed with avoiding it. Firstly, some ultra processed food has its place - and it's better than starving. Secondly, there are many other factors involved in a healthy life expectancy.

Whitewavemark2

Have you seen what the French children have 😮😮.

If only.

Yes, I have seen what French schoolchildren have at lunchtime and was going to mention it, but you got there before me.

I have had lots of stress in my life but I seem to have thrived on it.

Macaydia

Stress is a factor.

Agreed! I missed that one out. I'd add sleep (or lack of) to it.

Life expectancy has increased again, though, after the drop due to Covid, so our NHS cannot be as poor as we think. They must be helping to keep us totter along.

Many people are still suffering the after-effects of Covid.

Usedtobeblonde

I have had lots of stress in my life but I seem to have thrived on it.

I think there's quite a fine line between challenge and stress. It's set in a different place for differently people.

Allira

Life expectancy has increased again, though, after the drop due to Covid, so our NHS cannot be as poor as we think. They must be helping to keep us totter along.

Many people are still suffering the after-effects of Covid.

I think the issue in the report is healthy life expectancy, which seems to have gone down, and the difference between areas, which is about 20 years. I can believe that. As I mentioned previously, my area has one of the highest healthy life expectancies in the country. I've just looked it up and it's nearly 10 years higher (at 71) than the average.