CLEVELAND — A disturbing new study conducted by Health Action Council shows millennials exceed older generations in chronic health conditions like diabetes and obesity.
“I think it’s a pretty alarming phrase or sentence to be told,” said Bronson Rotaru.
Not only is this news coming as a surprise to Bronson Rotaru, who’s a personal trainer at Train Proper in Cleveland, but Dr. Roy Buchinsky at University Hospitals also says it’s shocking for him too.
“I was quite surprised to see that this was the trend initially when I saw that,” said Dr. Roy Buchinsky, who’s an Executive Health Director at University Hospitals.
But, Buchinsky says when he dug a little deeper into the findings, he says he could understand why.
“This generation has sort of been exposed to a number of different events over the last three years with COVID, and definitely other events earlier on in regard to the Great Recession as well as the dot.com generation during the tech slide,” said Buchinsky.
Because of these events and a lack of access to health care, Buchinsky says it has added more stress, leading to unhealthy lifestyle habits like bad eating and lack of exercise – which the study reveals.
“These results from the study are certainly eye-opening,” said Buchinsky.
But health experts say it doesn’t mean this trend has to continue.
“You have to really start walking the talk. In other words, to really take charge of your own health,” said Buchinsky. When people think of starting their workout groove, it requires heavy lifting like this when experts say it’s as simple as just getting out and moving.
“Just moving around a couple of days a week is a great idea for anybody. It doesn’t have to necessarily be that high of a goal of a fitness type level,” said Rotaru.
To reduce stress, Buchinsky also recommends connecting with people, watching what you eat, getting sufficient rest and finding some form of spirituality.
“We need to focus on emphasizing lifestyle as medicine, but also opening up the channels so that people can access health care when they need to access health care,” said Buchinsky.
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