A survey of caregivers revealed some unflattering and inaccurate sterotypes about seniors. For instance, almost 40 percent stated that seniors feel “grouchy”, when most seniors say they are seldom angry.

Some other stereotypes discovered in the study by the University of Alberta, Edmonton Canada:

* 25% of seniors are in institutions - in fact, only 5% of all seniors require long term care

* a large number of seniors can’t care for themselves

* seniors are not adaptable to change

* all Alzheimers patients are incontinent

Lead author Tiana Rust said the study showed education about aging is needed to dispel these stereotypes.

“It’s important that people learn more about what it is to be an older adult and also to know what Alzheimer’s and dementia are about. It is important to recognize that older adults are a very heterogenous group, ranging from very vital and capable to those in the last stages of dementia. They fall all along the continuum.”

The study results are published in the latest issue of Educational Gerontology.

According to a study of 947 adults aged 30 to 91, it was found that older adults preferred exercising with people in their own age group to working out with younger adults.

Exercising with peers increased with older adults’ interest in exercise itself, and exercising in groups of adults their own age was more appealing than exercising alone.

Working out has both physical and emotional benefits for all adults, but for older adults it is vital to stay healthy and mobile. Finding the appropriate group setting for regular exercise can help keep seniors motivated and moving.

The study appears in the April issue of Annals of Behavioral Science and was authored by Mark Beauchamp, Ph.D.

Psychologists are finding that there is one thing that improves as we age - our outlook. Sutdies show that as we age, we are more balanced in the way we process emotional information.

Research at the University of Colorado was conducted that studied the way people of different ages reacted to emotionally charged images. The images were viewed for a few seconds only while brain reaction was monitored. Participants clicked a mouse to register which category these images fell into.

The results showed that younger adults pay more attention to emotionally negative images than positive ones. The 55+ age group had different results.

“But the new finding from our study was that the older adults, ages 55 plus, didn’t show this so-called ‘negative bias.’ Instead they tended to show a better balance between paying attention to both negative and positive images.”

The article, Looking at the Sunny Side of Life: Age-Related Change in a Event-Related Potential Measure of the Negativity Bias, is published in the journal Psychological Science.

Getting older provides positive outlook

According to a CDC report, Americans are still not eating recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables and no state has reached national target consumption rates.

The report found that seniors, however, eat more fruit and vegetables than do 18 to 24 year olds. College graduates were more likely to eat more of both fruit and vegetables than those with less education and people earning more than 50K per year had higher fruit and vegetable consumption than those earning less.

A diet high in fruit and vegetables has been linked to a lower incidence of chronic disease. Fruit and vegetables also help keep weight down because they have fewer calories by volume than processed foods.

To protect your health and help maintain a healthy weight, the CDC recommends that adults consume 2 cups of fruit per day and a 1 cup serving of vegetables three times a day. The government calls this the “5 a Day” plan.

More information can be found at:

5 A Day
CDC website