Christiansen, Lauridsen and Bech elaborate on an important part of this question in this issue by asking ’’Ageing populations: More care or just later care?”. Cremer, Pestieau and Ponthiere take the issue further with their survey of the economics of long-term care for the elderly. In particular, the growing occurrence of obesity is a concern both because of its negative health effects and its potential effects on the demand for health care.