To be surprised that 65+ is deemed ‘elderly’

@Isseywith3witchycats

See you at a rally! Snap (though not an American bike!)

We are in our 50's we are not old, no such definition, it's middle aged until 65 though it's been proposed by whoever decides these things to push it to 70 for elderly.

30-60 you’re middle aged No thirty can not be middle aged surely!

I’m 60 and consider myself old as statistically it is. But I don’t consider old or elderly as pejorative descriptions it’s just a definition like teenager or baby. I’m fit and healthy enough todo what I want so don’t mind how I’m described. Maybe I’d feel differently if my hips were failing etc.

Given that they are very active and fit, one of them far fitter and more active than I am, I don't really consider them anything other than the age they are. You wouldn't look at them and think, "there's an old person."

I don't really think of anyone being old until they are 80, unless they have health issues which age them.

I agree with others - elderly is just a polite version of old. So I’m not sure how you consider people to be old but not elderly for 25 years!

What do you consider your friends in their seventies to be, if not old?

I think you can split age into three - up to 30 you’re young, 30-60 you’re middle aged (although a lot of 30 year olds are quite immature) and like it or not, 60-90 is the last third of your life and you are getting old. I’m a few years off that last bracket, and while I’m not feeling old, I’m also not feeling especially youthful anymore! Even my peers that have always been glam and who have a lot of treatments and Botox are starting to look like it takes a lot of work and they’re not entirely pulling it off. While I hope I’ll have another couple of decades of being fit and capable, I’m aware that old age is on the horizon. Both my parents, and my grandparents, were extremely fit and active until 75, then really went downhill health wise - and were both very frail by 82. Nothing to do with attitude or lifestyle, just luck and genes. Just make the most of your life. Don’t focus on the terminology!

I'm 64, closer to 65, and have friends in their early 70s. I don't consider any of us "old".

My only health condition is gastritis and gallstones and I visit the doctor only to have a yearly medication review for omeprazole.

How many of you are / are referring to office based workers ?

How many >65
plumbers and carpenters and roofers and bin men do you see ?
what about the burnout rates in nurses and teachers ?

To me, elderly conjures up someone doddery, bent and with a stick, like the pic on the ‘priority’ seats on buses.

You can be old without being like that.
Your category probably changes once you ‘have a fall’ - rather than merely going arse over breakfast time, as my DF so elegantly used to put it.

I think most people are stilling working in some capacity at 65 (even if part time). My parents are working full time running a business at 70 and are both well and healthy (Dad still running marathons). They are getting ready to retire now. My FIL retired at 75, MIL at 65 (she had a better pension). Post 75 seems old to me as that is when everyone seems to start getting health issues (even the previously very healthy people).

Did someone actually say a few posts ago that 45 is old?!

I'm 61. Work 50+ hrs in a dynamic and responsible role. Exercise. Ran a half marathon at 60.
Please don't call me old.

65s not middle age 😂. 45 is middle age if you’re lucky enough to live to 90. 39//45 Middle Ages.

I actually didn't realise old and elderly were that different, thought they had a similar meaning until reading this!

It always depends on who’s saying it really though, doesn’t it? I’m 43, had a young doctor who said the arthritis in my knees was fair enough given my age and that my body at this age would be slowing anyway and should think about trading in running. Mentioned this to the specialist I went to for an injection in said knee (the doctor is only a bit older than me and also runs), he laughed and made jokes about it and told me to get a good knee support and not assume I was over the hill yet!

I work in a residential care home and, to me, elderly is 80 plus, regardless of health and fitness. I'm 57 and am deeply offended when someone young suggests I'm old.

It’s a medical definition based on the physiological changes that start to occur around that age.

SAGA will start letting you cruise with them on your fiftieth birthday, so there's also that.

I agree. My parents are early/mid 60's, both still working, very tech savvy, both still have some of their natural hair colour left, my mum has her hair coloured blonde and wears it straight. They're always off on holidays and weekends away, my dad's just replaced all the house windows by himself. They have quite a few grandchildren that they'll care for on odd weekends/overnights.

I think elderly is a state of health/mindset rather than an age.

65 is early old age in medical terminology.

Yes, you are still expected to work when you are officially classed as old, albeit the early stages of this.

And no matter how sprightly you are you will still be leaving middle age and entering old age at sixty five.

Elderly is a bit of a nothing term, please rest assured that post sixty five all things being equal you will likely end up under the care of a geriatrician should you be admitted to hospital.

You're old starting at sixty five, it's up to the individual whether they view that as a pejorative term.

As pension age is 66, soon to be 67, it cannot be classed as elderly. Old is between 60 and pension age, not sure where. Traditionally elderly care in the NHS was 75+ and I think now with extended life expectancy, it could be 80+, as well as those in those in their 70s with major health issues.

This is my take on it.

0-1 baby
1-2 toddler
2-13 child
13-19 - teenager
19-25 young adult
25-45- adult
40- 70 Middle Aged

70-80 old(ish)
80+ - elderly