My column in today’s Chicago Sun-Times deals with the new wave of explosive growth among health information websites. The trend is fueled by the growing number of mid-life Americans who see the web as a primary source of guidance on health matters. Earlier post on Focalyst research documenting the trend is here.

Media companies are scrambling to build up their online health information websites, and new Focalyst survey research spotlighting Boomer media preferences in this area show why.

The New York Times noted the trend a few days ago with a story on the Hearst Magazines acquisition of RealAge Inc., a consumer health website that lets users determine their “real age” using a variety of factors like exercise, diet and weight. Hearst also is working to build out more content across its existing stable of sites, such as Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan. The story also notes an initiative at U.S. News & World Report aimed at bulking up on health information. Health also has been a major area of focus, of course, for Boomer-specific online launches such as Eons and TeeBeeDee and magazines such as More.

The Focalyst survey data underscores just how big health care media will be for Boomers as they age. The survey compares preferences of Boomers and older “Matures” when it comes to seeking advice and information on health-related matters. I’ve edited down the findings to zero in on Boomer likelihood to turn to online media for health information. Print media, television and radio also are beneficiaries of the trend. You can find the full press release and findings here.

How to make aging technology palatable to Peter Pan Boomers in denial? Easy: make it cool. The Boston Globe reports on nifty new products that make hearing aids and other stuff into fashion statements. Case in point: the Audeo–not a hearing aid but a “personal communication assistant.” There’s good info here, too, on some of the product design work being done at MIT’s AgeLab and by startup companies like Arlene Harris’ GreatCall, which makes a cell phone for people who want a phone that just … makes phone calls.

Expectations that Boomers are empowered to re-make life in middle age due to their unprecedented good health don’t square with a growing body of data suggesting the opposite. Kristen Gerencher of MarketWatch reports on research from the National Bureau of Economic Research showing that today’s 54-59 year old Americans report “more pain, chronic health conditions and alcohol and psychiatric problems than people who were the same age 12 years earlier.” Perhaps the two worst problems: obesity and diabetes.

Here’s Kristen’s accompanying video on prevention, Northern California-style.

For all the talk about the importance of fitness to Boomers, the big U.S.-based gyms do precious little to attract them. Clubs in big cities like Bally focus strictly on buff 20-somethings in their ads, and adamantly refuse to target the 50+ market, which has the motivation and money to work out. They’re following the age-old marketing adage of the auto industry, to wit: you can sell a young man’s car to an old man, but not the other way around. Now, Associated Press reports, niche gym operators are springing up to serve the 50+ and senior markets. Players include Healthfit, Club 50 and Nifty after Fifty. Some of these outfits are franchises, in case you’re thinking of tapping into the midlife bulge market.

A growing number of technology companies are developing solutions for monitoring aging parents from a distance. CNET offers a good roundup on companies offering alert devices that notify Boomer-aged children when their parents take their medications (or don’t). Some of the devices actually dispense medications, as well. We’ve reported previously on Intel’s ambitious aging in place initiative, which aims to help people age in place and stay connected with health care providers. There’s potential here for a multibillion dollar industry to emerge. Key questions: Who will bring the products to market, and how will consumers pay for them?