What do you need for a comfortable longevity and a healthy society?
Japan is facing an aging society, and the average life expectancy is 80 for men and 86 for women, which is one of the highest in the world. On the other hand, looking at the "healthy life expectancy" that allows people to live independently without depending on medical care or long-term care, the average life expectancy for both men and women is about 10 years lower. Bridging this gap and realizing a comfortable and healthy longevity society, rather than simply living for a long time, is a major challenge for the future.
What can you do for that? The progress of information technology is remarkable, and the big wave of digitalization will help our lives. There are more and more ways to realize a comfortable longevity life by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.
For example, we are developing a business that allows you to easily use blood test services for your own health management at drug stores. From now on, it will be an era where you can easily perform various health maintenance tests at convenience stores and train stations. New technologies for digitizing and analyzing sleep to understand your health condition, managing your current physical condition with just your voice, and extending healthy life expectancy will continue to expand. Pedometers are already becoming an effective tool for efficiently collecting and analyzing personal health data.
It is too late to start after retirement to achieve a comfortable longevity. Daily accumulation leads to a comfortable longevity life. It is an era in which companies think about such a system for their employees, and it is also an era in which the whole country thinks about it. It goes without saying that the work style reforms that are currently being talked about are based on the premise that employees are in good physical and mental health.
If a healthy and comfortable longevity society can be realized in this way, it will become a good business model that can be utilized in China, Europe and the United States, where the population is aging in the future. This problem must be overcome because Japan is an advanced aging country and an advanced country with issues. I want to realize a concrete application for the solution with the help of digitalization. I think that is our big mission in the future. Living healthy, comfortable and long-lived can always be achieved by changing consciousness of each of us and backing up by companies and countries. Please tell us your ideas on what it takes to create a comfortable longevity and a healthy society.
"Are you exercising for half-hour or more twice a week"No, not at all." According to Hitoshi Ochi, president of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, more than 20% of people like me are away from the exercise. President Ochi runs 4 kilometers twice a week and walks 10,000 steps in the Marunouchi underground shopping mall three times a week. It looks energetic and healthy.
Japanese companies during the period of high economic miracle had many in-house events such as athletic meet against the workplace. It was a sight that I often see radio exercises at work. Nowadays, these opportunities have decreased, and with the evolution of IT (information technology), the number of sitting jobs at desks has increased. Mitsubishi Chemical has adopted "health exercises" to prevent stiff shoulders and back pain, which is popular with employees.
President Ochi's basic philosophy is that a company where employees can continue to work in good health is highly productive and capable of sustainable growth. That would be true for Japan as a whole.
(Editorial committee member Ryo Suzuki)
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The future side is a paper that Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. discusses issues with readers and top executives and creates together. The challenge this point is "What is required for a cushty longevity and a healthy society?" We are looking for contributions from everyone. The deadline is noon on Tuesday, April 11th. The management will select excellent ideas and introduce them on the future side of the next issue on April 24 and the future side of the Nikkei electronic version.
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