By the year 2020, elderly over the age of 65 are going to overpopulate those who are 14-24 years old. Sadly, The United States is not prepared for such an impact. In a way, this nation is dealing with depopulation and overpopulation. Today, the elderly are living longer due to the improvements in healthcare services and continuous financial investments in medical research, but the birthrates are declining among young adults. Most importantly, the rate of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other illnesses are growing among elders. This is a result of unhealthy eating habits, a lack of exercise, smoking/alcohol consumption and the large distribution of different kinds of drugs. There are a number of reasons as to why this occurs such as social learning,
As a person ages, theirs body cannot perform the way it used to. This will cause many elderly people to loose their job or choose to go into retirement. Both of these options cause a loss in health care as well and a reduced or exterminated income. Here alone lies a reason that the elderly population is challenged. The elderly population also has a tendency to develop a chronic illness that can be life threatening if not treated or controlled properly. This means that need for health care treatments also increases. At least 40% of those over age 65 will have nutrition-related health problems requiring treatment or management (Gigante, 2012). It is important to realize that 10% of people over the age of 65 and will develop Alzheimer’s disease and 50% of those over the age of 85 will develop this disease (Gigante, 2012). More elderly African American men and women use government aid than white men and women. Therefore, this population will be vulnerable because of the lack of funding, proper health care and insurance.
Data from the Census Bureau tell us that in 2015, there are around 47.8 million Americans age 65 and older, up from about 25.5 million just 35 years ago; demographers predict that in another 35 years, there will be nearly 88 million Americans in this age group. The rate of growth of the “oldest old” population—those age 85 and older—is even more dramatic: Their numbers currently stand at approximately 6.3 million, but by 2050, that number will have almost tripled, to 18.7 million Americans. This population explosion is unprecedented in history, and the resulting demographic shift is causing profound social and economic changes.
The generation of hard working Americans that innovated our way of life and catapulted us into the twenty first century is aging. This fact alone will lead to skyrocketing medical costs and a compromised lifestyle for those in the Baby Boomer generation. As a result, a large number of diseases will increase, including Alzheimer's. According to The Alzheimer’s Association, “These numbers will escalate rapidly in coming years, as the baby boom generation has begun to reach age 65 and beyond, the age range of greatest risk of Alzheimer's.” A shocking “estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s” and “by 2050, an American will develop Alzheimer’s every 33 seconds”
Disability among older U.S. adults, as measured by limitations in instrumental activities of daily living, has declined since the early 1980s. Disability also is measured by limitations in activities of daily living (ADL), a common factor leading to the need for long-term care. Recent studies using ADL measures have shown varied trends in disability. The world has experienced a gradual demographic transition from patterns of high fertility and high mortality rates to low fertility and delayed mortality. The transition begins with declining infant and childhood mortality, in part because of effective public health measures. Lower childhood mortality contributes initially to a longer life expectancy and a younger population. Declines in fertility rates generally follow, and improvements in adult health lead to an older population. As a result of demographic transitions, the shape of the global age distribution is changing. By 1990, the age distribution in developed countries represented similar proportions of younger and older persons. For developing countries, age distribution is projected to have similar proportions by 2030. By 2030, the number of U.S. adults aged 65 or older will more than double to about 71 million. The rapidly increasing number of older Americans has far-reaching implications for our nation's public health system and will place unprecedented demands on the
Growth and development is an essential part of the life cycle, which leads to the occurrence of different phases like childhood, teenage and late adulthood. Aging is the period which is characterized by the onset of personal, cognitive and social changes. They feel hard to adjust the changes. Like rest of the world, the US also falls in the list of countries which have the highest population of elderly people. According to the Population Reference Bureau report, Americans ages 65 and older has projected to increase more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060, and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population will rise to nearly 24 percent from 15 percent (Mark Mather). The
There are fears that the recent generation and their children’s generation will age less successfully than the current older one – no surprise given that, although rates of cigarette smoking are falling, more people are drinking heavily, only a minority of adults exercise often enough to maintain good health and obesity rates have greatly increased over the last 20 years.
The United States already had an overpopulation problem. Now that the population is growing even more we have more cities and states being overpopulated. According to Support U.S. Population Stabilization (SUSPS), if our population trend continues, we will be able to add enough population to create another New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco, Indianapolis, San Jose, Memphis, Washington D.C., Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Boston, Columbus, New Orleans, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, and El Paso - plus the next 75 largest cities in the U.S. - by 2020. According to Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), low-ranking countries have high population growth and high ranking countries have lower population
Throughout the last few hundred years, humans have built a foundation. Compared to all of the other animal species on Earth, humans are the most intelligent. We have built houses everywhere, developed a system to sustain ourselves, and now inhabit almost every piece of land on earth. Humans are smart, strong, and know how to fend for themselves. But, humans have a tendency to take it too far, and we have already done so. There have been numerous advancements over the past few hundred years which could ultimately lead to the downfall of the human race. The main issue is overpopulation due to the advancements in technology and general knowledge. The statistics from an article by Kenneth Smail show that “In the year 1900, there were almost 2 billion humans living on Earth. Throughout the 1960’s, the baby boom, there were 3 billion humans on Earth. Today in 2016, there are just over 7 billion humans living on Earth.” Currently, we have taken up just over half of all available land on this planet, and with increased amounts of people having kids, our population will only increase. Overpopulation is becoming a serious problem all around the world, especially in countries such as China and India. There are many global problems associated with overpopulation that are becoming more and more prevalent, which will all have dangerous effects on the foundation that humans have
Americans at the ages of 65 years and older are considered in the “elderly” classification. With advancements of healthcare and life expectancy growing rapidly, it is expected that the average American will grow to live at this age or longer. According to the Population Reference Bureau, the number of Americans at the age of 65 and older is expected to double from roughly 46 million today, to over 98 million by 2060. This means that the elderly’s portion of the total United States population will grow from 15 percent to almost 24 percent. As people obtain older age, they also obtain the health and social problems that accompany it.
There is no questioned that the United States is overpopulated. We are consuming resources at an unsanctionable rate, with the population increasing, you start to see many difficulties our nation faces surfaces on a day-to-day basis. Whether its contamination, over-consumption, transportation congestion, full institutes, clinics (sickness), exploited social amenities, unemployment (jobs), collapsing structure, inner-cities undeveloped (poverty), and not enough resources. When you have war, corruption, and poverty in many other countries in the West people look for better occupation for themselves and their families. The US is the best country on this earth hands down. Immigrants come here illegally because the process takes too long with good
The elderly population in the United States has been and is expected to increase due to the aging of the baby boomers’ generation. The percentage of the elderly in relation to the U.S. total population is approximately 14% (Novak, 2012). With the expected increment, the overall state of health across the nation will be dependent on how healthy the elderly are. Consequently, measures to ensure optimal health of this age group should be a priority for policymakers and other stakeholders in the health sector.
Population in the world is growing rapidly and civilians don’t realize the consequences of having too many people in this world. Just a few of the consequences are, homeless people, food shortages, and unemployment. With an increase of people, resources are quickly being used up. Should America try to mimic China’s population control law that couples are only allowed up to two children? Population control will help the world because it will eliminate food shortages, reduce the amount of trash, and stabilize the economy.
Another thing that countries could try in order to decrease the overpopulation is increase the focus they put on their women. Developing countries tend to have higher rates in childbirth the ration to parents to kids are higher. The more children that people have the more children that can go to work , bring in money or cook and clean around the household. Women and girls in these countries have little to no education. They have to stay at home and raise their children or help out with brothers and sisters.Women that live in countries like the United States and Canada have low birth rates and tend to wait until they are older to have children if they have any.These women are bought up to go to school and then further their education.After
As we have studied this week about population trends and the affects that they have on healthcare, it has gotten me to thinking about ways to manage the populations growth to prevent the adverse events that we are now currently facing. Since population growth is the directly correlated with poverty and poverty is correlated with increased healthcare costs, I feel that it would be important to manage the population growth if at all possible.
The convoluted problems concerning overpopulation remain to be a highly discussed issue in various countries throughout the world. Some issues that are in support of overpopulation include the opportunity to place innovative ideas into action, stimulating the economy, job openings in new growing industries, increased human resources, encourages competition, advancement in urbanization and development, demand for industries like farming, and allows for cheaper and more readily available products to be produced. According to an article on Chron, “More homes must be constructed, more food produced, more clothing manufactured. Even during periods of population growth, new technology may reduce the number of employees needed in one industry, while the needs of the people create new jobs in another.” By providing job opportunities in different industries, citizens in overpopulation areas would have the chance to explore new careers and would be playing an important role in supporting local businesses. Some values that are in support of overpopulation include quality of life, competition, and the right to live.