Researchers reporting in the American Journal of Public Health say, baby boomers will face more disabilities than previous generations, imposing heavy burdens on families and society, in the not so distant future.

A definite link was found between obesity and disability in the study, as those who were not obese had no problems with disability, as those who were obese did. Even so, it the study was unable fully explain the disability trend in baby boomers, including following generations.

Funded by the National Institute on Aging, for the study the researchers compared two decades of trends, where people were thought to be functioning better in old age than those before them, between the years 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2004. The findings showed the oldest participants had better nutrition and medical treatments than the younger ones. Those aged 80 and older, especially the women showed actual improvement in disability rates, while those in their 70s showed no significant change, while they actually increased in those in their 60s.

This can be explained by the strain of excess weight on joints, including cardiovascular effects, and obesity trends can lead one to expect more disabilities, affecting a person's ability to perform daily activities like climbing up a flight of stairs, cooking meals and doing household chores, including managing personal finances, or even rising up from a chair without arms.

The growing levels of disability among people in their 60s is highly disturbing.