In your opinion, at what age does "middle age" start for humans, and at what age does "elderly" or "old" start?

I have changed my opinion on this as I have aged. I know think that 35 is middle-aged and 70 is elderly.

Depends on the age of their inner child.

Middle-age starts at 40 and ends 5 years older than whatever age I am.

as I have gotten older, and met many active people into their 80s, I view middle age as a stage where one is much more accepting of the vicissitudes of life, and realizing we’re not getting out of here alive. I think it hits home when one notices a lot of people in your age group are starting to have long term health problems or dieing. That happens in your 50s.

And I think a person becomes elderly when they have to significantly reduce their activities. A man I knew was an active long distance cyclist, riding at least a dozen 100+ mile rides each year well into his mid-80s. It was not until he had an accident with resulting brain injury that he would have been called elderly.

Well I think middle age is about 40–45, old age is about 70.
My aunt is 80 next year, is in the operatic society and a theatrical/dance group. She says she likes to help out elderly people and visits and an old lady (her words not mine) of 91!!!
We all have different perspectives of what is old it would seem.

As long as my mother is still alive (she turns 96 in three weeks), I am a spring chicken.

Middle age somwhere in th 40’s. Old is around 80 somewhere. I think the terms don’t really work anymore thought, because I think now we have a very long adulthood plateau. I think middle age kind of implies just the other side of our peak, and it all goes down hill from there; I disagree with that.

Logically, or maybe literally, if the average life expectancy is the mid 70’s then middle age is the late 30’s. But, of course life expectancy is an average and not a very accurate way to look at aging in my opinion.

haha I was just thinkin about this the other day. To me, the 40’s felt just like the 30’s. Then 50 feels much different. So I would call 50 middle age. I would call 70 on old or elderly.

I think middle age begins when you perceive yourself as “getting old”.

I think elderly begins when the lines on your face are the main descriptive feature. But also, to me, I think elderly implies a certain grace and stature.

When I was a child, middle aged people looked middle aged. The women had short curly hair and glasses, and wore polyester pants. They dressed like fuddy-duddies (does it age me to use that term?). Now, people in their 40’s and 50’s dress not too unlike people in their twenties. Everyone wears jeans, nice boots, has nice handbags (designer), nice sandals, has manicures, nice hair (in my part of the country, at least, the NY Metro area, which is a wealthy part, don’t know if that makes a difference).

In my opinion, Middle Age is 50’s & 60’s and Elderly is 70’s+.

Well it’s getting older generally speaking and for me in particular. It depends on your health to a large extent. If you can remain fit and healthy middle age begins around 50 and you are not old until 75.

I think I’ve recently hit middle age. It started maybe in my late forties. What tipped me off was that my body stopped being able to do all the things I asked it to. But I learned to be careful, and after a few years, I feel like I’m back at the beginning of middle age. Except that I did have to give up trying to do a gainer last summer, because I nearly knocked my head off. I wasn’t more than an paper’s width from smashing my head on the board instead of just scraping my ear, like I did.

But wow, has my body changed, and so has my mind. I’m slower, and I don’t have quite as much energy and my coordination seems to be worse. I can’t see as well at night, and I’ve started seeing these weird purple and green colors—kind of like neon—around the roads and buildings at night, and most recently, indoors with lights on—I saw them around my son’s neck. I start to wonder whether it’s my brain or my eyes.

The worst thing is losing memory. I heard a piece on the radio recently that said that is common. Middle aged minds forget words (I forget the names of things), but we’re wiser. Young minds are sharp as a tack, but their judgment isn’t so good. So, when I’m being nice to myself, I tell myself the wiser part, and when I’m not nice, I tell myself the memory loss part. For me, this could also be a side effect of the drugs. But it has progressed rapidly in three years, from when I was 51.

Anyway, I think middle age starts at 50. Hell, many people thought I had a mid-life crisis when I was 51, so that must be because of the onset of middle age.

Old age… well, I’ll know better when I get there. Right now, seventy sounds old, but I have friends that old, and they seem just like me. Retirement age—who knows where it will be by the time I get there… somewhere between 67 and 70. So old age is definitely after 70, but I don’t know how much further…. maybe 80? Yeah. Twenty years of old age sounds like more than enough. Maybe I’ll push old age off a bit further. And yeah, I’m planning to live to 100. At least.

If you live in Swaziland, middle-age is somewhere between 15 and 19.
Elderly would be 30ish.

10-middle age (loss of childhood and innocence and stuff)
100-elderly (loss of a functioning body and stuff)

I think middle age is in the late 40’s. But then again, I am 40 and am most definitely NOT middle age!

I’m 37 and just recently became a full fledged adult, so middle age for me will be around 55 or so.

“Middle-aged” is “later” until you just can’t get away with it any more; by the time you’re 50, you might as well admit you’ve been middle-aged for ten years. But you don’t have to own up to it when you’re 40, just recognize it in hindsight.

“Elderly” is, by the same excellent principle, older than I am now.

@Jeruba No, no, no, no, no. Middle age can not possibly start until 50. Even in hindsight. I have proclaimed it and it is true!!!!!

@Jeruba no way does it start that early. Another way to look at it is you’re middle aged when your kid’s generation starts having kids. One reason I felt less than middle aged until recently is that I was 40 when my first child was born. Now that both kids are teenagers, the descent is accelerating….

Eh, I hate ages…but when I think middle-aged, I think 50–60…when I think elderly, I think 65–80…80+ is old.

I do have to add that I used to say that I wouldn’t be middle-aged until my doctor was younger than me. Around five years ago I started seeing a doctor who had graduated high school one year after I did. However, I still will not accept the label middle-aged

This is really hard to answer. I know so many women in their early forties who dress , talk and act like they’re in their mid-twenties. So I just can’t say forties for middle aged. By the early fifties, when many are very healthy and active but many are not I’d say they are middle aged. Elderly?
I have a friend who plays tennis and golf constantly and is in her mid seventies and I can’t bring myself to call her elderly. Her husband is, though. I have to say 80 is elderly.

Middle aged is when policemen look as if they should still be at school.

I think people are conflating middle aged with being less able. Middle age does not have to be negative, it can be associated with having life experience and simply having lived more or less half of your life. People don’t like to think they are middle aged, because we are afraid of death, or value youth disporportionately to maturity.

@flutherother Haha and doctors, and basically everybody seems younger than me lately.

I plan on living past my 100th birthday, so for me middle age was around 50. I am nearing 68 now, and I don’t feel elderly yet.

@JLeslie I’m convinced I’m not getting any older it’s everybody else who is getting younger!

You must be elderly when your child is a Senior Citizen. Right? Lololl

I think of elderly as someone too old to walk. They are either in a wheelchair or use a cane to walk.
If someone is playing golf and jumping on a rebounder it’s real hard for me to call them elderly regardless of their chronological age.
Jim Bakker (2 K’s) , the televangelist just turned 70. He walks very fast, is a vegan and jumps on a rebounder a lot. I suspect there are men who are 60 who appear older than Jim. He claims all his bloodwork is normal as is his heart. Good thing since his wife is 51 and very attractive.

@wundayatta and @zenvelo, the key concept there is ”‘later’ until you just can’t get away with it any more.” Feel free to set whatever parameters you like for the rest of it. You have my permission.

@jca I figured I was hitting middle aged when I made it to 40, since that’s about half the life expectancy for an American male. Now as I close in on my 67th birthday, I am utterly amazed about how to bracket, middle-aged—has expanded and how hard it is for me to get old. I’ll let you know where elderly starts if I ever get there. :-)

That’s good news, @ETpro. Perhaps you’ll like it that I had no idea you were in your sixties.

@wundayatta You mean I don’t type that old? :-) Thanks.

Wow, @ETpro is older than I am!—and yet still not elderly! In that case I must not be elderly either!

There, see how easy that was?

@Jeruba Surely everybody is older than you are! You are as sweet as they come.

@Jeruba There you go. Constantly pushing the envelope for those who come behind me. :-)

Dear @wundayatta, surely not. I wouldn’t be seventeen again for anything in this world. I am no longer sure I’d even want to be thirty again. Well, maybe just for a little while, but only knowing what I know now, otherwise no deal.

@Jeruba 30 and knowing what I know now would work. I’d even go for 17. I made a big mistake toward the end of that year that I’d love to get a redo on.

@ETpro
@Jeruba

Offspring, I am disappoint. You’re thinking too small. I’d like to live my life in all it’s possible variations. Problem? No, many worlds. Infinite reincarnation. Learn everything and experience all the good stuff. And then move on. Like a grasshopper.

@Zyx Maybe the Buddha was right, and that’s exactly what you are in the process of doing.

@Zyx, I would happily go for at least a dozen more lifetimes, one for each of the worlds of learning and experience that I would like to master. What I am not interested in is going back. At least, not back that far.

It’s all relative. I’m in my mid 20s and I feel ancient most of the time.

My grandparents are both in their 80s, and are both able to get around by themselves without any assistance. They’re not on any prescription medications and all their mental faculties are still in tact. My grandmother was hit by a car 2½ years ago and didn’t break any bones, but only had some severe soft tissue damage. I don’t really consider them old at all. The same with my parents – my dad is turning 60 and looks like he could be in his 40s. My mom is 57 and just graduated from law school a few years ago and is still taking classes (advanced math classes, nuclear operations, etc.). I don’t see them as old or even middle-aged. Maybe because they don’t “act” it? Or maybe I’m just in denial.

@tragiclikebowie Love that picture of your extended family. There are certainly factors in aging we can’t yet control, but our attitudes do have so much to do with it, and those we can control.

I always thought middle age ranged from 40 to 59 and anything 60 on up was “elderly”.

@Paradox Rut-roh for me then!

Depending on the individual, I’d say it starts somewhere between 38 and 43, and ends somewhere between 64 and 68. Or roughly, middle-age is 40–65.