The graying of America is perhaps the most significant demographic event of recent times. Health care and nutrition have improved, and baby boomers reaching middle age and retirement will influence American society both now and in the years to come. Vierck and Hodges present vital statistics on aging Americans in a readable and interesting format, describing trends, offering insights, and providing a framework for understanding the data.

This book includes many previously unpublished data sources, and Vierck and Hodges offer analytical support to clarify the vast amount of information. Comprehensive analyses, for example, were conducted on newly available nursing home, home health care, and hospice care data, and an extensive interpretation of nutrition data by Kris Hodges provides new perspectives on the nutritional status of the elderly. The book, divided into 16 chapters on different aspects of aging and health, will be useful to gerontologists, geriatricians, health policy analysts, researchers, librarians and information specialists, marketing professionals, journalists, students, and others doing research on aging, health, and health services.