Wichita ? Kansas was one of only six states and the District of Columbia to report a decrease in the number of residents 65 and older.

U.S. Census data shows that Kansas had 2,669 fewer people in that age bracket on July 1, 2003 than it did on April 1, 2001.

The census doesn’t say what happened to those 2,669 people. State officials said the drop is due to a short-term decline in the number of people turning 65.

But why are there fewer people in Kansas reaching that age? James Harrah of Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research said birth rates did drop during the years people in this group would have been born — the era of the Great Depression, roughly defined as 1929-1939.

“People couldn’t afford to have kids,” Harrah said. “They couldn’t afford the hospital bills.”

But although the number of people 65 and older declined in Kansas, the state still has a slightly higher-than-average percentage of people over 65, with 13.3 percent compared to the national average of 12.4 percent.

Those percentages are expected to increase significantly as people live longer and the baby boom generation ages. The first wave of baby boomers — those born in the 18 years after World War II — will turn 58 this year. But aging no longer means a sedate lifestyle.

“People are staying active, and they’re more health-conscious, too,” said Karen Sipes, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department on Aging. “That’s adding to the longevity.”

A Wichita-based newspaper targeting senior citizens, Active Aging, has seen its circulation increase by more than 500 percent. In a decade, it went from reaching 10,000 seniors to reaching 55,000.

Managing editor Becky Funke said those numbers were likely to climb even more.

“Things that a generation or so ago killed you don’t necessarily kill you anymore,” Funke said, adding that better medical treatment helps prolong people’s lives.