Assumptions about improving mortality rates could be undone by a rising tide of obesity, undoing government policy in areas such as pensions, according to a keynote speech at a conference jointly organised by The Actuarial Profession.
Professor S. Jay Olshansky, head of epedimiology and biostatistics at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, says statistics based on the more advanced state of obesity of the US population suggest estimates of mortality currently relied on by UK and other governments may become obsolete. US figures suggest rising life expectancy seen there in the past two centuries could soon come to an end, with childhood obesity in particular having an effect on mortality rates. "This will have dire public policy implications,” Olshansky says. ”Increased death rates will mea...
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