This report from Blue Cross/Blue Shield is four years old now. I can only imagine that circumstances have become worse since the outset of the pandemic. Note that it precedes the COVID-19 pandemic.
Short version:
Millennials are seeing their health decline faster than the previous generation as they age. This extends to both physical health conditions, such as hypertension and high cholesterol, and behavioral health conditions, such as major depression and hyperactivity. Without intervention, millennials could feasibly see mortality rates climb up by more than 40% compared to Gen-Xers at the same age.
The question I want to raise in this post is why? I think there are lots of possible reasons including not enough time unsupervised and/or out-of-doors, too much time staring at screens. I can’t help but wonder if medicalization of certain behavioral problems particularly ADHD isn’t a contributing factor. Does having kids take drugs for long periods of time have unforeseen adverse long-term consequences?
I know that some of it are changes in medicine, particularly with ADHD/ADD which didn’t exist when I was a teen in the 80’s but is now relatively common. One of my good friends in high school, who was very weird and socially awkward, had undiagnosed asperger’s (he was diagnosed in his early 30’s and killed himself a couple of years later).
Some other theories:
Cheap, high-calorie food is the norm, young people are fatter than previous cohorts.
A sedentary lifestyle is much more prevalent now.
Technology has given young people new ways to bully others or – ironically – has made it easier for people to feel lonely and isolated, hence the growing suicide and mental health problems.
I’m not sure there is data to back this up, but parents are much more hands-on (“helicopter parent” is the pejorative term) potentially leading to less resilience among young people.
I think there could be environmental hazards that we don’t understand that might be a factor, like lead was in the 1970’s. Endocrine disruptors are potentially a big problem, as one example.
If this is real, I am not so sure about it, would suspect too much time in front of the computer and on the phone. People dont live so much in areas where you can walk places. Lots of fast food but not so sure that is much different than for Gen X.
Surverys have shown that smartphones are also pretty useful in preventing loneliness. Not so sure this is a big problem.
Steve
O/T, but really, if the go to position is this, with elected Dems and with media support, can one really say that this is just a small minority of Dems?
“…President Joe Biden is arguably the most anti-free-speech president since John Adams, and the Democratic Party is largely committed to censorship and speech regulations. Some Democratic figures, including Plaskett, have declared that hate speech is unprotected under the First Amendment — a categorically untrue claim.
As the evidence mounts of an even broader censorship effort by the Biden administration, the Democrats’ attacks have become more unhinged and unscrupulous. After shredding any fealty to free speech, they now are attacking journalists, demanding their sources and claiming their reporting is a public threat.
Plaskett even attempted to defend the Federal Trade Commission demanding that Twitter turn over the names of journalists who have communicated with the social media company. Other Democrats have similarly shrugged off this outrageous demand by the FTC, headed by Chairwoman Lina Khan, a former Democratic staffer with the Judiciary Committee.
For many of us, this week demonstrates the final severing of many House Democrats from both free speech and free press values.
What is left is raw rage and politics….”
>>>>>>>>>>
The author is a Democrat. Some surely know who it is.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/young-pilot-fights-post-jab-heart-issues-speaks-out-on-covid-shot-fears_5115037.html
Cheap, high-calorie food is the norm, young people are fatter than previous cohorts.
So many examples of young people becoming sick since the onset of the pandemic actually lines up more with the initiation of the mass vaccination mandates. These are frequently young athletes, young adults having no previous history of heart problems or diseases – ones who tend to watch their diet and not eat junk food.
The Blue Cross/Blue Shield study predates any COVID-19 vaccination mandates, i.e. Millennials were already less healthy than previous cohorts at their age. Since I doubt that there was any particular change in diet between Gen X (presently 43-58) and Millennials I suspect that sedentary habit is one of the directions in which we should be looking. I also suspect that a feeling of hopelessness, lack of optimism is one of the issues. That’s the big change I see between young people today and my contemporaries when they were young. There seems to be a general feeling of hopelessness now. It has all sorts of ramifications from low voter turnout to health to mass shootings.
Dave, I am in agreement with the comments in your last post. Leading a sedentary life, for instance, has been equated to smoking, in negatively effecting one’s health. Also, heightened social isolation, caused by substituting digitalized interactions with personal ones, and the recent lock downs, has led to less social cohesion among the youth. However, there has been statistical evidence linking the introduction of COVID vaccines with a sudden rise in sudden death, especially among healthy athletic-types.
https://www.biznews.com/health/2023/01/16/sudden-death-athletes