2023-07-04 14:00:00
Being active is good for your health, whatever your age! I’World Health Organization recommends that people over 65 devote at least 150 minutes per week to moderate-intensity endurance activity, or 75 minutes to vigorous-intensity activity. The WHO recalls that physical inactivity increases the risk of death and disease. In recent research, researchers show that it also contributes to the deterioration of the quality of life. Their work is published in Health and Quality of Life Outcomes.
How to assess the level of physical activity of seniors?
This research team was made up of researchers from the University of Cambridge. She examined the physical activity levels of 1,433 participants aged 60 and over with accelerometers. At the same time, the scientists collected various information to learn more about their quality of life, such as their level of pain, their potential hospitalizations or their mood. These data allowed the researchers to develop a quality of life scale, ranging from 0 to 1. “Lower quality of life scores are linked to an increased risk of hospitalization, poorer recovery after it and a higher risk of death,” the authors state. On average, participants were followed for six years.
Sedentary lifestyle vs physical activity: what consequences on quality of life?
Analysis of the information collected shows that one hour of additional physical activity per day was associated with an increase of 0.02 in the quality of life score. “For every minute per day of less moderate to vigorous physical activity compared to the first year of assessment, quality of life scores fell by 0.03, observe the researchers. This means that an individual who has spending 15 minutes less per day on such activity saw his score drop by 0.45.” When they analyzed the effects of sedentary behavior on quality of life, the authors made the same observation: the more time seniors spent doing sedentary activities, the more their quality of life deteriorated.
In general, the scientists noted an increase in the sedentary lifestyle of the participants over the years. “On average, six years after their first assessment, men and women were getting about 24 minutes less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, they note. At the same time, total sedentary time increased on average about 33 minutes a day for men and about 38 minutes a day for women.”
Seniors: how to move more?
For the authors, the conclusions of this study are clear: we must encourage the elderly to remain active. This therefore requires a reduction in the time spent sitting, watching television or reading, and more time spent moving. They suggest five activities that are easy to do: daily brisk walking, ideally for twenty minutes, gardening, bike rides, dancing or playing tennis. Improving quality of life can be an abstract notion, Dr. Dharani Yerrakalva, lead author of this study, explains: “more physical activity reduces pain in common disorders such as osteoarthritis, (…) improves muscle strength” and “depression and anxiety (…) can be reduced by being more active and less sedentary”. According to theOMSphysical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of premature death worldwide.
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