Health-Related Lifestyle, Socioeconomic Mediation, and Successful Aging: Evidence from China
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China has a huge and rapid aging population. Aging process with fewer chronic diseases and disability as well normal daily physical and social functions has become a challenging issue. Confined to the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) of 3183 senior individuals from 9 provinces in China, this research empirically answers the questions of how dietary habits, exercises and other daily health-related lifestyles affect health outcomes of elderly population in China and whether effects of socioeconomic status (SES) can be mediated by lifestyle and influence health indirectly. Our results suggest that under a Chinese context, successful aging process has positive relations with an individual’s dietary pattern and physical activity participation, which are predicted by higher income, higher education attainments, and smaller household size. More specifically, first, we observe less functional and social life difficulties from the elderly with better nutrition intake and regular participation in formal exercise and housework; second, doing housework can reduce the risk of suffering from chronic diseases and further postpone the onset of morbidity; lastly, SES impacts the outcomes of successful aging in an indirect manner. Keyword: Successful Aging, Lifestyle, Healthy Eating Index (HEI), Physical Activity, Chronic Disease, Daily Life Difficulty, Socioeconomic Status.
JOUR
Hou, Miaomiao
2009
1369