A recent study revealed significant improvements in the health of older adults in England when compared to previous generations. Rather than considering health by the presence or absence of disease, the study, applied a new approach that examined trends in people’s functioning – i.e., their cognitive, locomotor, psychological, and sensory capacities.

Analyzing data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the study found that older adults today experience higher levels of physical and mental functioning than previous generations did at the same age.

Improvements were large, with the greatest gains being in the most recent cohorts. For example, a 68-year-old born in 1950 had a similar capacity to a 62-year-old born a decade earlier, and those born in 1940 had better functioning than those born in 1930 or 1920.

The researchers did similar analyses of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). They found similar trends, although this analysis was limited by a shorter follow-up period.

Improvements in education, nutrition, and sanitation over the course of the twentieth century are likely to have played a key role, the authors said. Medical advances—such as joint replacements and better treatments for chronic conditions—were also likely to be contributing factors.

The researchers caution, however, that their observations are for a specific period and in a single country. The same trends may not have been seen in the United States, or across the whole of the population. In addition, it is likely that more advantaged groups experienced greater gains than others.

But overall, said John Beard, MBBS, PhD, of the Butler Columbia Aging Center of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York City, "the trends were very strong and suggest that, for many people, 70 really may be the new 60.”

To download the full study, published in Nature Aging, click here