Will Your Baby Live To Be 100?

According to The Lancet, more than half of the babies born in the UK and other wealthy nations will live until they are over 100 years old, so researchers have claimed.  They also state that as adults, their lives will not be riddled with serious diseases and ailments, but that their lives will be of a good quality.  The data has been gathered from over 30 different countries and has shown that since 1950 the chance of living past 80 years old has increased for both sexes.  We are twice as likely to survive beyond 80 than people in the 1950s.

The key to this dramatic increase in life expectancy is due to our lifestyle and our healthy way of living,  helped by medical advances and better nutrition.  Improved living conditions are also a contributing factor.

Child mortality figures also contribute to the trend of longevity.  In the early part of the 20th century child mortality rates were worryingly high and this is only a few decades ago.  Couple this with old people living longer and you can see why the average person's life span will tend to be longer!

The researchers based in Denmark at the Danish Aging Research Centre studied life expectancy throughout the high-income world.  They see no reason why life expectancy won't just keep improving as the years go by!

It does, however, pose problems in that with aging population (however active and seemingly fit) will put extra strain on social and medical services.

Some doctors are sceptical, because if you look at the top ten causes of death, obesity is 2nd or 3rd on the list.  This is a self-induced form of early death and something that allegedly between half and one third of us suffer from... so things could get much worse.  So, we may end up going backwards with life expectancy rather than forwards once  obesity factors are accounted for.

That we are living longer is a nice idea, but we shouldn't take it for granted - we need to take responsibility and make sure we don't end up sliding backwards!  Introduce your babies to a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle, and there's a good chance that they will live to celebrate their 100th birthday!