BOWLING GREEN- According to Bowling Green State University’s Center for Family and Demographic Research (CFDR) the smoking trend has decreased in Ohioans over 30 years old, but remains almost the same for adults under 30.

In 1984, the percentage of smokers was the same in both demographics, 30 percent.  In 2008, the older demographic dropped to 19 percent but Ohioans between the ages of 18-29 stayed close at 28 percent.

Part of the percentage decrease is caused by smokers who moved into the over-30 group and quit.

Heidi Lyons, applied demographer at the CFDR, said they would like to see a greater decrease in the young adults.

In addition, the CFDR’s “Ohio Population News: Health and Well-Being of Young Adults,” reports that obese Ohioans ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes than their peers who aren’t obese.

Some people may think those conditions won’t be a concern until later in life, but the data suggest that people who are obese have the possibility of early-onset high blood pressure and diabetes before the age of 29, Lyons said.

 The obesity-related numbers indicate that while 10 percent of all Ohioans ages 18-29 have high blood pressure, it afflicts 21 percent of obese young adults compared to 8 percent of those who aren’t obese. Further, 5 percent of obese Ohioans under 30 have diabetes, versus 2 percent of their peers who aren’t obese.

Lyon says that health behaviors as young adults often set people on poor health paths that lead to further health issues as older adults.

Lyons compiled the Ohio Population News report using census data, the 2008 Ohio Family and Health Survey and the Centers for Disease Control’s 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. 
 
The data also reported who’s uninsured in Ohio. While one-quarter of the state’s residents in the 18-29 range don’t have health insurance, that number drops to 12 percent of residents ages 30-49, 11 percent of those ages 50-64 and only 1 percent of those 65 and older.

For more information, contact Heidi Lyons at 419-372-3116 or hlyons@bgsu.edu.  For the full report, go to http://www.bgsu.edu/organizations/cfdr/page34545.html.

--
Victoria Bouttavong