Essay Based On Article
The article discusses aging and health in china, purposing at understanding what can be learned from the world’s largest population of older persons. The author indicates that China is experiencing a rapid population aging. The UN anticipates 366 million older Chinese adults by 2050, which is bigger than the current US population of 331 million (Mather, para.1). Hence, the author purposed to summarize recent research on health and aging in China, aiming to shed light on critical determinants and identify policies for addressing the rapidly aging population’s challenges.
First, the authors found increased life expectancy, but China’s aging population still faces health challenges. In the past half-century, China’s life expectancy has grown steadily. According to Mather, the average life expectancy at birth in China was approximately 44 years but had increased to 76 years in 2017 (Mather, para.5). However, the increased life expectancy gains and reductions are associated with fast economic development in urban areas. This is because older adults in rural areas are not faring well, resulting in growing rural-urban health disparities. China’s aging population can also be attributed to rising obesity rates and high smoking prevalence. In 2011, 28% of males and 38% of females aged 45 and above were overweight, putting them at higher risk of heart disorders, diabetes, stroke, and hypertension (Mather, para.9). Hence, there is a need for public health incentives and campaigns to predict that lasting consequences of such behaviors on old age diseases are not realized.
The author noted that the other finding is that supportive policy might address older adults’ caregiving gap. According to Mather, families have traditionally been the primary caregiving and financial support for older adults in China. This is clear because CHARLS data suggest that 41% of older adults live with an adult child and another 34% have adult children living around (Mather, para.11). However, it is noted that China’s relatively low fertility rate shall decrease family caregiver availability in the future. Hence, China’s policymakers should encourage healthy aging among older adults through implementing policies that address rural-urban health disparities. Besides, the authors established that older adults in rural areas have poor health. The author notes that half of the adults aged 45 years and above showed poor health in 2011-2012 compared with 9% in better-off urban counties in the poorer rural counties.
The author also found that health behaviors and pollution lead to health risks in urban areas. This is clear because China’s rapid economic development has led to longer life expectancy but brought challenges associated with lifestyle pollution and changes, especially in urban areas. The wide gender gap is another persistence and which contributes to health and aging in China. The article clearly shows that older women fare worse than males since they showed poor health, depression, hypertension, and body pain. The study findings are critical since they help policymakers address the looming shortage of caregivers in improving adults’ health and wellbeing.
Work Cited
Mather, M., 2020. Aging And Health In China: What Can We Learn From The World’S Largest Population Of Older People? – Population Reference Bureau. [online] Prb.org. Available at: <https://www.prb.org/aging-and-health-in-china-what-can-we-learn-from-the-worlds-largest-population-of-older-people/> [Accessed 3 October 2020].