Biological anthropology and aging

As the number of persons aged 65 and older is increasing dramatically in both developed and developing nations of the world, the health and well-being of elders has become a worldwide public health concern. Although older adults are now found in higher proportions across all cultures, the biology, behavior, and environment vary tremendously across older populations. Biomedical research largely follows a reductionist paradigm separating the domains of culture and biology. Even when health is examined in association with culture and behavior, biomedical researchers largely focus on static unidirectional associations instead of examining the dynamic multidirectional impact of culture, behavior, and the environment on physiology and ultimately health. Since aging and the processes of senescence clearly involve complex interactions among biological, environmental, and cultural domains, anthropologists with a bio-cultural and evolutionary perspective are well-equipped to study variation in aging and senescence. While relatively few biological anthropologists have focused their attention on aging, a growing literature has demonstrated the utility of biocultural approaches to aging. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that highlights the core of the biological anthropology of aging.