A little activity keeps pensioners going
Tuesday August 4th, 2015
Pensioners continue to benefit from keeping a little bit active - even if they struggle to meet targets for physical fitness, researchers say today.
Just
a little moderate exercise for people over the age of 60 seems to help
stave off death, according to French researchers.
The conclusions come from an analysis of nine studies involving more than 122,000 people.
The researchers say that people who undertook activity - but for less than the recommended 150 minutes a week - enjoyed a 22% reduced risk of dying compared with inactive people of the same age.
The findings were reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Researcher Dr David Hupin, of the University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France, writes: “Based on these results, we believe that the target for physical activity in the current recommendations might be too high for older adults and may discourage some of them.
"The fact that any effort will be worthwhile may help convince those 60% of participants over 60 years of age, who do not practice any regular physical activity, to become active.”
Even a low dose of moderate to vigorous physical activity reduces mortality by 22% in adults aged = 60 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis British Journal of Sports Medicine 4 August 2015; doi 10.1136/bjsports-2014-094306 [abstract]
Tags: Elderly Health | Europe | Fitness
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