Seniors Set to Outnumber Little Kids

In 10 years, the global 65-and-up population is expected outnumber children under five for the first time, the Guardian reports. And now the reality: How do we care for them?

The report, from the U.S. Census Bureau, predicts that over the next three decades the number of over-65s will nearly double, from 506 million last year to 1.3 billion. The shift is a result of two factors converging: the Baby Boom and better health care. The report is one in a series of similar outlooks produced in recent years.

If life expectancies continue to go up, one worry is that the retirement age might have to be raised. However, despite improved health care, the poor diets and other bad habits of Americans may have caused life expectancy here to peak already.

Life expectancy in the United States is only about 78 years, which places us 41st on the 2008 CIA World Factbook list, behind Bosnia but still edging out Albania, as Bad Medicine Columnist Christopher Wanjek reports.