WHO refuted the revision of the age limits of youth
The World Health Organization did not revise the age limits of youth and does not have « standardized general organizational groups. » This was reported to Kommersant in the main office of the organization in Geneva. The fact that the borders were allegedly revised was reported the day before by many media. At the same time, the proposals of “raising the age of youth” sound regularly, on March 31, the head of the Ministry of Health Mikhail Murashko also spoke on this subject: he allowed an increase in the age of youth in the Russian Federation. Such discussions are not soundly founded, experts surveyed by Kommersant say, more and more people feel young after 35 years, the period of growing up becomes more and more stretched.
The head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, in response to media questions, supported the idea of increasing the age limit to which citizens are considered youth. Now, according to the Law “On Youth Policy in the Russian Federation”, it includes a “socio-demographic group of persons” aged 14 to 35 years. Earlier, the Chairman of the Board of the Russian Movement of Children and Youth, “The Movement of the First”, Arthur Orlov said that the threshold should be raised from 35 years “to at least 40 years”. “This proposal is quite rational, so we support,” Mr. Murashko answered, commenting on the idea (quote for TASS).
Commenting on the words of the head of the Ministry of Health, many media referred to the fact that on the eve of the World Health Organization (WHO) allegedly revised the age limits and now understands people from 25 to 44 years old. “Kommersant” sent a request to the head office of WHO in Geneva, they refuted the change in the classification. “WHO has no standardized general organizational age groups,” Kommersant said to the organization. “Age groups used to register and represent health data may vary greatly depending on the region and even the country. These groups are determined by the characteristics of the incidence, mortality and risks for health, as well as the possibilities for prevention and intervention in the disease. ”
The discussion about the increase in the age of citizens who can be attributed to young people has been conducted in Russia for several years. In November 2024, the head of the Russian Federal Medical and Biological Agency, Veronika Skvortsova, said that age limits of youth in the future can expand due to an increase in life expectancy.
Experts surveyed are also indicated about this: they do not see anything surprising in the fact that many today feel young after forty.
If a person plays sports, complies with the mode of work and rest, eats properly and diversely, is undergoing medical examinations in time, socially active, then there is a high probability that after 35 years he will feel healthy and cheerful, Tatyana Simonova, a therapist of the SberZdorovye medical company.
The cardiologist, chief physician of the Scandinavian Health Center, Natalya Gavrilova, says that doctors note the growth of intellectual activity with age. “Training, a change in the profession, personal development – all this happens today and after 40 years,” the expert comments. “Modern patients not only retain cognitive abilities, but also more often remain included in social and professional processes.” She notes that more and more women become mothers at the age of fifty – both with the help of IVF and naturally: “Today, when medicine focuses not only on the numbers in the passport, but also on the real state of the body, the concept of“ youth ”is increasingly shifting towards the functional approach. An active and conscious life after 35 years is no exception, but an increasingly frequent scenario. ”
Following the growth of life expectancy and a reduction in mortality, sociocultural changes are also taking place, says Elena Churilova, a senior researcher at the International Laboratory of Research of the Population and Higher School of Hunning. “The average age of marriage, the age of birth of the first child, and getting the education become more stretched over time,” she explains. Thus, the expert continues, the social norm, understanding of the period of youth, also changes: this is not only about the biological age and health, but also about the sensation. “Simply put, today’s 40-year-old man is not the same 40-year-old man as ten or twenty years ago,” Ms. Churilova points out. “He has better health, he is waiting for more years of life ahead, which is undoubtedly reflected in his economic and demographic behavior.”
