Not Every "Boomer" Is A Zoomer"

– By Dr. David J. Demko, gerontologist and founder of AgeVenture™ and ZOOMER™ magazines (1998-2011).

There's a totally new a kind of Boomer. One who breaks retirement tradition, a ZOOMER™. Modern medicine, healthy lifestyles, and a grand “can do” attitude about life have all increased life-expectancy, transforming Boomers into ZOOMERS. These new boomers are coloring outside the lines, zig-zaging and zoooooming toward a bright new horizon chock-full of possibilities for reinventing retirement and redefining what it means to be a mature adult in the new millennium.

Are you a BOOMER? 
You are if your birthday falls between 1946 and 1964. That birth period defines you as one America's the Post-World-War-II Baby Boomers. However, birth dates alone don't tell you much about how a person thinks or acts. Not all Boomers think and act the same. Some Boomers are breaking new ground, re-defining aging and re-inventing retirement.
 
That's why Demko coined the term ZOOMER to identify this trend-setting group of Boomers.
 
Are you a ZOOMER? 
The answer is "yes", if you have achieved the nine longevity lifestyle traits in the operational definition below.
 
•           knows the difference between primary (inevitable) and secondary (reversible) aging
•           monitors inherited health risks and practices preventive measures that reduce those risks
•           performs daily exercise: aerobics for endurance, anaerobics for strength,  neurobics for brain power
•           calculates daily nutritional and caloric needs based on age, gender, and weight
•           orchestrates a social support system of companions, close friends, and a confidante
•           cultivates a spiritual life, practicing faith, and participating in organized religion
•           enjoys a positive self-concept, and a passion for living life to the fullest
•           achieves the resources necessary to live an adventurous life thanks to sound retirement planning
•           Serves as a role model for age peers via voluntary service and advocacy
 
The traits are based on variables culled from peer-reviewed research reported in professional journals, clinical trials, reports sourced from the 27 centers within the National Institutes of Health, and longitudinal research (1998-2008) reported in ''ZOOMER BOOMER: Stop Acting Your Age, Start Living Your Life'' (AgeVenture Press, 2009) authored by Dr. David J. Demko who coined the ZOOMER demographic in 1998.
 
The posting of this operational definition helps maintain the scholarly integrity of the ZOOMER concept and to guide the efforts of future researchers in the segmentation and subcultures within the Boomer Generation.
 
"Boomers have a 4 to 1 chance of living 100 years. Health improvements keep increasing the odds year after year. In fact, Gen Xers have a 50/50 chance." "80% of life-expectancy is determined by lifestyle factors, not the aging process.
 
Dr. Demko's latest ZOOMER™ book (2009), 4th in a series, reports on decade-long (1998-2008) research producing the Longevity Personality, traits that transform a Boomer into the author's trademark personality type, a ZOOMER™.
 
On his 50th birthday, Professor Demko decided to brighten his prospects for aging and retirement. He reinvented what it meant to be a Boomer, especially one who is capable of living 120 years (maximum life expectancy). He created a new demographic called ZOOMER™. The ZOOMER™ longevity traits consist of all the known life expectancy boosters, a set of what the professor calls Longevity Personality Traits.
 
For the next ten years, Professor Demko set out to transform himself into a ZOOMER by applying to his personal life all he had learned about aging since his career began in 1974. He kept a journal of his lifestyle changes, monitored his progress, and identified what did and did not aid his journey toward a 12-decade life.
 
  

 

CREDENTIALS:  

Doctoral graduate (PhD), University of Michigan. Certifications in Gerontology-U Michigan, Geriatrics-U South Florida, Retirement Planning-AARP.   U.S. Administration on Aging Scholarship, MA Sociology (Sociological Honors Society), BA Psychology. AUTHORSHIP: Author, four books on Life-expectancy Trends, Boomer Pop Culture, Retirement lifestyles. Author of scientific papers published Journal of Gerontological Social Work, The Hearing Journal, National Council on Aging, Senior Center Handbook, Association for Gerontology in Higher Education’s AGHE-Exchange (founder and editor, 4 years), AARP-AAAE’s Education for Aging News (editor, 3 years). 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Coined the term ZOOMER (1998) which brands Boomers who have acquired the author's Longevity Personality Traits as reported in ZOOMER BOOMER (2009) and online at: www.demko.com/zoomers.htm, coined OPALS (Older People with Active Lifestyles), coined AgeVenture, coined Youth’n, coined the Age-Audit Calculator, coined The Aging Education Continuum.  

  

 
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