Many researchers have been interested in understanding whether decreases in morbidity
and disability have followed decreases in mortality, so that ill health is “compressed” into
the last stage of life (Fries 1980). Some encouraging recent evidence for the US comes
from Cutler, Ghosh, and Landrum (2013), who show compression of morbidity into a
shorter period of time just before death, although disturbing trends of obesity may lead to
stagnation or reversal in the future. For China, research is still needed, and is greatly
facilitated by recent collection of detailed data in the China Health and Retirement
Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). According to the 2011 national baseline data, the elderly
(age 60+) face many health challenges: 10.7 percent were underweight; 28.0 percent were
overweight (and 4.5 percent were obese by WHO standards); 31.8 percent reported