Washington — Only a scant 12 percent of baby boomers are seriously concerned about looking older, and the vast majority wouldn’t choose plastic surgery, according to a recent survey.
Even though boomers are reaching Medicare-eligibility age, three-quarters of them still consider themselves middle-aged or even younger, msnbc.com reports.
According to the Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll, 70 is the median age baby boomers — the 77 million Americans celebrating their 47th through 65th birthdays this year — cite as the beginning of old age. And 25 percent of boomers say old age starts at 80.
The vast majority say they’d pass on the chance to get plastic surgery. Of the 20 percent who said they have had or would consider plastic surgery, about half say they might improve their tummy or eyes, while about 40 percent would seek help for a sagging chin.
Only 5 percent of baby boomers say they might use Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA, Allergan) to temporarily smooth away wrinkles, while 17 percent would consider laser treatments to fix varicose veins.
Boomers — especially women —are taking less drastic steps to look younger. A majority of female respondents — 55 percent — said they regularly dye their hair, most of them to cover gray. Only 5 percent of the men say they color their hair.
The AP-LifeGoesStrong.com poll was conducted from June 3-12 and involved online interviews with 1,416 adults, including 1,078 baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964.
