Middle-Aged And Loving It

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 18, 1999 / 5:10 PM EST / CBS

After 10 years of studying 8,000 Americans, the MacArthur Foundation has discovered that, for most, there's no such thing as a mid-life crisis.

For more Americans, middle-age is a time to enjoy life, according to the study.

Part of the reason seems to be wisdom. Turns out that really is an advantage as you get older. Things that younger Americans agonize over, are things that middle-aged Americans have already figured out.

Middle-aged Americans who participated in the study reported that work and marriage gave them the greatest happiness - and both work and marriage require a lot of figuring out - and sometimes a little wisdom, too.

Improved health care also contributes to an improved middle-age. Medicine has made breakthroughs. Menopause no longer fills most women with dread. And men and women told researchers they feel younger than their years.

Doctors warn, however, some middle-aged Americans feel so good, they may ignore low-level health problems that could warn of bigger problems later on.

The MacArthur study found, for example, that seven in ten of those surveyed described themselves as overweight. Two in ten men, and four in ten women, said they had breathing difficulty after a short uphill walk. Check out such signs, say doctors, and you'll enjoy middle-age even more.

The study itself is enough to make some people feel good.

So I expect I'll bear all this in mind as soon as I reach middle age.