Trajectory of physical health, cognitive status, and psychological well-being among Chinese elderly

•We investigate the trajectory of health status among the Chinese elderly in their late years.•Advantaged childhood socioeconomic status (SES) was significantly associated with healthy well-being.•Regularly engaged in physical activities was significantly associated with healthy well-being.•Regularly engaged in leisure activities was significantly associated with healthy well-being.

This study investigates the trajectory of various dimensions of health status among the Chinese elderly in their late years. We used growth-curve analyses on a subsample (n ≈ 2000) of the elderly from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS) who had longitudinal information from 1998 to 2005. Analyses controlled for a large set of individual and family characteristics. Our findings indicate that elderly who had relatively advantaged childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and who regularly engaged in physical and/or leisure activities had significantly healthier well-being than their respective counterparts on all dimensions considered. In addition, regularly participating in physical and/or leisure activities was associated with slow deterioration of health well-being among the Chinese elderly. The results indicate the potential benefits of engaging in physical and/or leisure activities, and consequently, the importance of implementing programs that promote such activities among elders in China.