The Importance of Physical Activity

According to statistics provided my many credited organizations, older Americans do not get enough physical activity to gain important health benefits; the Center for Disease Control states that 44% of older adults aged 75 and above, are completely inactive (no leisure time activity). The lack of physical activity has increasing become a problem with aging individuals. Quoted from Health in the Later Years and the American College of Sports Medicine, “Regular participation in physical activity is one of the most effective ways for older adults, including those with disabilities, to help prevent chronic disease, promote independence, and increase quality of life in old age.”

The Center for Disease Control provides some key messages and facts about physical activity for older adults that may educate and promote its importance. Physical activity does not have to be strenuous in order to achieve health benefits. Activities can be moderate in time with low intensity, or shorter with a higher intensity. Easy things that an older individual can do would be to take the stairs instead of an elevator, or walk the grocery store or mall. The CDC states that “among adults aged 65 and older, walking and gardening or yard work are, by far, the most popular physical activities.” Aside from aerobic activities, muscle strengthening is also important. Building stronger muscles can help decrease the risk of falls as well as improve performance of tasks in one’s daily life.

The benefits of physical activity strongly outweigh the effort that must be put in to reach them. Some of these benefits from Health in the Later Years include: strengthening the heart, decrease in blood pressure, weight loss, stimulation of bone building cells, and decrease in LDLs and increase in HDLs. Also, according to a longitudinal study done over 700 men “reported that those who walked less than one mile a day had nearly twice the mortality rate of those who walked more than two miles a day. The longer the distance walked, the lower the mortality rate.”

In order to help promote physical activity to the older population of America, there is much that the community needs to do. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, communities need to establish programs that help build social support as well as improve access in places that people can be active such as parks, trails, and gyms. The CDC gives the idea of adding components to already built programs that are specifically for older adults such as aquatic and flexibility activities.

After much research on the topic of physical activity in older adults, its importance is easily illuminated. With the many life-lengthening benefits of daily exercise, I believe that our younger generation needs to not only begin now ourselves, but also help and support the older people in our lives to begin and maintain a steady and active regimen. There are simple thing that any person can add to their life that can take place of the stereotypical exercise. These include thing such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking the dog, walking the mall or grocery store, and even as mentioned before, gardening and yard work. With a very active family, I have grown up knowing the importance of daily physical activity and have been able to truly see it benefits. At the age of 24, I have already programmed in me a daily run plus any other activities that I participate in. As a community we need to work together to promote longer and happier lives through physical activity.