Generation Xers are fatter and more likely to have diabetes in the prime of their lives than their baby boomer parents were, highlighting the significant deterioration in health in the space of one generation.
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But Xers are better educated, less likely to smoke and more likely to be employed if they are female than baby boomers at the same age.
University of Adelaide researchers used data from the 1989-90 and 2007-08 national health surveys to compare the two generations when they were aged 25 to 44.
They found Generation X - those born between 1965 and 1979 - had higher rates of obesity and diabetes than baby boomers - born after World War II - when they were the same age.
Almost one in five of Gen X males were obese compared with 9 per cent of male baby boomers at the same age. And 13 per cent of Gen X females were obese, compared with 10 per cent of female baby boomers.
Three per cent of males and 8 per cent of females in Gen X had diabetes compared with 1 per cent of males and 3 per cent of females in the baby boomers.
"We're getting sicker younger," researcher Rhiannon Pilkington said. "The increased prevalence of obesity isn't because we have an ageing population, it's much more related to our environment."
Ms Pilkington said the marked deterioration in health in one generation was due to people's increasingly sedentary lifestyle, rising consumption of processed foods and the decline in incidental physical activity and sleep.
"We're enjoying increased life expectancy but our healthy life expectancy hasn't increased at the same rate," she said. "If the trend continues, there will be a decrease in life expectancy."
It has already been suggested that Generation Y - born after the Xers - could be the first generation not to outlive their parents.
Ms Pilkington suggested the fact Gen X did not grow up in a period of prosperity as their parents did may have some bearing on their health.
Gen X is better educated than their parents - one in three has a university degree compared with 15 per cent of male baby boomers and 11 per cent of female baby boomers. Reflecting the increasing trend for women to return to work after having children, three-quarters of the female Xers were employed, compared with two-thirds of female baby boomers.
Edwina Gleeson, 43, has taken care not to fall victim to the ill health plaguing her generation. She quit smoking at 34 and, after miscarriages played havoc with her hormones, and having suffered gestational diabetes, Ms Gleeson took up the paleo diet 18 months ago. The mother-of-two dropped 16 kilograms, going from a "tight size 16" to a size 10.
"My health has improved," said Ms Gleeson, who practises yoga and walks for exercise. "I feel amazing, I don't get tired. Hopefully I've escaped diabetes and obesity."
A registered nurse, Ms Gleeson moved to the US to get her first job at 21 because there was nothing in her native New Zealand or Australia. She moved to Sydney when she was 26 and got married at 33.
Ms Gleeson's stepfather, Bryan Crook, is typical of his generation. He studied at tech before being called up for national service in 1971. When that ended, he got a sales traineeship at Arnotts biscuits. His marriage, which bore him a son, ended in divorce. Now 63, Mr Crook is working and is in good health.
Mr Crook says Gen Xers are less settled than his generation, and have more opportunities to make money. "I think they're more educated and they work longer," he said.