Abstract
Health is the key to the aging problem, and “healthy aging” depicts the overall changing trends in the health of all elderly individuals in a society. Based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) data from the years 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014, this article investigates whether there is a trend of “healthy aging” in China. A second-order factor model including four dimensions of physical health, functional status, mental health and social health was constructed to measure a latent variable, “Health_elders”. The further multigroup comparison results by structural equation modeling showed that, with the exception of 2008, the Health_elders in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2014 displayed an upward trend, and the mean differences in Health_elders across five periods were significant. These findings indicate that on the whole, compared with older people in the past, older people in more recent periods are healthier, which supports the trend of “healthy aging” in China. In terms of cohorts, the average health levels of male, town-residing elderly populations are higher, while the healthy aging trends among female, rural and urban elderly populations are stronger. Moreover, the physical health levels of the 60–74 years-old cohort are decreasing, and the participation of elderly individuals in social activities is low, which are the weaknesses in the healthy aging process in China.
Highlights
Health is the key to the aging problem, and solving health problems can essentially resolve the negative impact of aging [1,2]
In the past 20 years, has China moved towards healthy aging, sub-healthy aging or even diseased aging? According to the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee, in 2018, China’s average life expectancy was 77 years, of which the healthy life expectancy was 68.7 years; that is, elderly individuals lived with diseases for approximately 8.3 years, including 40 million half-disabled elderly individuals and 20 million completely disabled elderly individuals, and 180 million elderly people
The study found that the social participation of elderly individuals in China is low
Summary
Health is the key to the aging problem, and solving health problems can essentially resolve the negative impact of aging [1,2]. In 1990, the first World Assembly on Aging officially introduced the strategy of “healthy aging” to its member nations. China has the largest number of elderly people in the world, and some scholars have pointed out that healthy aging is the key way for China to cope with the challenges of population aging [5,6,7]. “Healthy aging” highlights the overall changing trends in the health of all elderly individuals in a society [1,8]. China was recognized as an aging society in 1999, and by 2019, elderly individuals over 60 years old accounted for 18.1% of the total population and those over 65 years old accounted for 12.6%. In the past 20 years, has China moved towards healthy aging, sub-healthy aging or even diseased aging? According to the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee, in 2018, China’s average life expectancy was 77 years, of which the healthy life expectancy was 68.7 years; that is, elderly individuals lived with diseases for approximately 8.3 years, including 40 million half-disabled elderly individuals and 20 million completely disabled elderly individuals, and 180 million elderly people
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