To be surprised that 65+ is deemed ‘elderly’

[Helfs]

Off the back of another thread I wanted to see what the actual definition or classification of ‘elderly’ was and I was very surprised to see it defined as 65+

I always thought 80+ as being elderly so this has really surprised me. Especially looking at those I know around the 65-70 mark, they’re fit, healthy, living their best life and do not scream ‘elderly’ if you looked at them.

Personally I’ve always seen it as;
0-1 baby
1-3 toddler
3-13 child
13-19 - teenager
19-25 young adult
25-40 - adult
40-55 - Middle Aged

55-80 - old
80+ - elderly

So do you think this definition is fair on those who are 65, should the definition not evolve as life expectancies rise?

For a few lucky people perhaps.

Meanwhile the vast majority of us have at least another decade in work.

55 isn't old age by any stretch of the imagination. There's knocking on 3 decades left of average life expectancy.

It depends on how you choose to define things. I tend to see middle age and old as being defined on what you are (on average) expected to be able to physically do. Therefore, someone in their 50s being considered old these days seems a bit daft to me. I'm in my late thirties so don't think I'm projecting (much)!

I always thought of middle age as the mid point of your adult life (rather than literally the mid point of your entire life) and a general marker of a certain stage of life. So 40ish to 60ish seems about right to me. I think often the "middle age" tag is taken a bit too literally in these types of discussions. You are also generally considered medically "young" if below 50 - in terms of onset of common illnesses, risks etc.

There is also interesting debate on the meaning of recent research regarding whether middle age could start as late as around 65 if you consider "old or elderly" to be as in the last 15 years of your life (which is later for more of us nowadays) and the expanding median age of the population: https://www.nicswell.co.uk/health-news/middle-age-starts-at-60-claims-media. But I think that might be taking things a bit too far at present!

@Yazoop so disabled teenagers are elderly?
What you can do is partly affected my age and partly affected by other things. I was out with a friend last night who is 61, uses a wheelchair and has carers as a result of a car crash last year. Is she elderly?

@BenefitWaffle that's not what I meant and sorry if you construed it that way. I was talking about categorisations that are based on the average across a population. And medically things like increased frailty, likelihood/frequency common issues like heart disease and stroke etc are indicators of what age category you are likely to be in.

But I think you've got a point that stage of life is not just purely physical (which I also tried to get across in my post earlier, but may not have been very clear) - it is also about "life stage" - e.g. someone in their fifties is likely these days to be working, paying off their mortgage, and so on, which I would see as more "middle aged" in terms of their stage of life than elderly.

Like all of these markers, they are just generalisations by their nature and don't take into account every individual circumstance. I wouldn't say your friend is necessarily elderly at 61 as I don't see disability as a lone indicator of age (it can come with age, but that's slightly different). Though some do see over 60 as old/elderly, regardless of disabilities, as outlined on this thread - I don't as it happens.

Dh and I are both 70. We often say we dread being killed in an accident and being described in the news as 'an elderly couple' We are both pretty fit, have had a few medical issues, but nothing serious yet. However we have friends at the same age who can't walk more than a few yards without puffing and blowing. All of the ones with breathing problems smoked when they were younger or are very overweight So if you smoke, pack it up, if you are weighty try to lose some. for your own sake.

Met mil at 50 she acted elderly then

I do find it is getting increasingly blurred - most of my peers (who have had kids) will have babies or young children heading into their 40s (including me!). Which doesn't seem particularly middle aged in terms of what you expect middle aged to look like! And my parents definitely don't act "elderly" in their 70s in the way their parents did.

So definitely think a bit of generational shift going on, with key milestones being hit later in life due to a mixture of changing desires and economic realities changing. So marriage, kids, home ownership (where that is even possible nowadays!), retirement being hit later - and people continuing to do "younger" things like fitness, adventurous travel, fashion, until much later in life. But realise this might be a very specific experience of it, where people are fortunate enough to even have those types of options available to them.

Medically, 65 IS classed as elderly (my GP told me). I'm going to be 65 next month - it's no big deal. What would be the alternative - death?

You caught me! Rishi in disguise

I'm 60 and I really don't like the idea of being classed as 'elderly' in 5 years time. In my head,I feel like I'm still 18.

We all do. My mum said she still felt the same in her head when she was well into her 80s.

@Yazoop 84 is the median age for women to die. So mid 40s clearly is middle of your life however you spend it.

I’d see old as being 70yrs+ in this day and age

A stupid post from the get-go.

25-40 isn't adult.

18-death is adult.

You wouldn't say that if you knew the people in their 70s that I know. There is no way I would describe them as "old", several of them still work, many volunteer, they are fit and reasonably healthy, travel, and enjoy life to the full.

Well they aren't young and they aren't middle aged either. Just because they are fit, well and healthy does not make them not old.

@IloveAslan what do you consider old given that 84 is the median age for women to die?

I am interested in people saying they are young because they run marathons. I mean good on you for running a marathon whatever age you are. I’m sure it takes a lot of hard work and dedication so genuinely well done. What about those of us who have lived with long term chronic health issues that affected our mobility or fatigue? I will never be able to say that I’m “45 but I can run” because I’m a decade younger and I cannot now due to a disability. Just a thought, I don’t have the answer.

They're still old 😂

Old people denying that they're old because they can do XYZ still is shocking.
People need to stop internalising the societal view that being old is bad or means you can't be fit and healthy still.
My elderly grandparents were fit and healthy and travelling and dancing and old as fuck in their early seventies, and they owned it.

I don't live in the UK, but it is pretty common for people here to reach their 90s and I know several who have made it into their 100s, some of them living at home with little help.

I would not describe anyone as being old until they are 80. In my experience, unless there is some health issue, people start to slow down and go downhill after that.

Do you really look at someone in their early 70s and think they look old? I certainly don't. I don't think being old is a bad thing, but I can't see how someone who doesn't actually look old can be described as old.

@IloveAslan I do not know what country you are in. In the UK some people live into their nineties and to a 100 and beyond. But the median age for women to die is 84 years old. So lots of women at 78 years old, only have another six years to live.

The funny thing is, after all this debate over the meaning of 'old'... the dictionary definitions are either:

• Having lived for many years
• No longer young (that's like saying dark is, well, not bright)

Someone who's lived at least half a century I'd consider old by the first definition. That's a long time, to me. As for the second, well, maybe if you 'feel' young you're not old. But someone in their 70's isn't objectively young, the way a 20 year old is, so I don't think that definition is appropriate either.