3 ms·

so all of a sudden from 2014 to 2015, obesity?

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
A lot of boomers are reaching end of life ages and dying off, raising mortality. Their obesity issues and the vast number of boomers out there are raising the rate. Some data: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa055643#t=article http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa055643#t=article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831354/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831354/
- digikata 10y ago
  You would expect the number of deaths to rise due to demographics, but just the distribution alone should not affect the rate. Now because a group is demographically together, that group of peers may have collectively had a significantly different integrated set of life experiences than previous groups - different food and food habits, different environmental exposures, work environments, etc. (all of which could add up to more obesity). So the dip could be the first sign that those integrated differences add up to a shift. Though, re: obesity, aren't there a number of papers that seem to say that some extra weight in your latter years may be an indicator of better survivability for some medical events?
- munificent 10y ago
  It's not very clear, but I think the article discusses that. It says the death rate above 65 is unaffected, so this is not coming from the aging boomers dying off. It's middle-aged people.
joe_the_user 10y ago
I suppose I assume a commentator on hn should have a basic idea of how to interpret statistics. Of course it's not a matter that last year things were good, this year things are bad. What this signals is a "tipping point", where the continuous medical and public health improvements that have added to life expectancy (usually for those 60+)can no longer keep up with the various factors causing increased death at a young and especially middle age (how important obesity is among these is another issue).
- lintiness 10y ago
  OH NOES!

A lot of boomers are reaching end of life ages and dying off, raising mortality. Their obesity issues and the vast number of boomers out there are raising the rate. Some data: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa055643#t=article http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa055643#t=article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831354/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831354/

digikata 10y ago
You would expect the number of deaths to rise due to demographics, but just the distribution alone should not affect the rate. Now because a group is demographically together, that group of peers may have collectively had a significantly different integrated set of life experiences than previous groups - different food and food habits, different environmental exposures, work environments, etc. (all of which could add up to more obesity). So the dip could be the first sign that those integrated differences add up to a shift. Though, re: obesity, aren't there a number of papers that seem to say that some extra weight in your latter years may be an indicator of better survivability for some medical events?
munificent 10y ago
It's not very clear, but I think the article discusses that. It says the death rate above 65 is unaffected, so this is not coming from the aging boomers dying off. It's middle-aged people.

joe_the_user 10y ago

I suppose I assume a commentator on hn should have a basic idea of how to interpret statistics. Of course it's not a matter that last year things were good, this year things are bad. What this signals is a "tipping point", where the continuous medical and public health improvements that have added to life expectancy (usually for those 60+)can no longer keep up with the various factors causing increased death at a young and especially middle age (how important obesity is among these is another issue).

lintiness 10y ago
OH NOES!