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Fitness & Exercise for Senior Citizens
Advanced Age, Disabilities Do Not Stop Exercise that
Improves Physical Function
Participants were 70 to 89, couch potatoes,
physically disabled
 Dec. 17, 2007 Scientific studies continue to
prove that older people even in their eighties can improve their
lives with regular exercise. In the latest study the elderly
participants were also couch potatoes with serious health problems.
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The researchers wanted to learn if elderly adults
at risk for physical disabilities are able to adhere to a regular
program of moderate exercise for one year. They studied 213 men and
women..
Led by corresponding author Roger Fielding, Ph.D.,
of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA
HNRCA) at Tufts University, the authors observed that improvement in
physical function was related to the participants ability to adhere to
the physical activity regimen.
At the beginning, middle and end of the study the
participants were tested on their walking speed, strength, flexibility
and balance to gauge their physical function, said Fielding, director
of the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at the
USDA HNRCA.
We saw a greater improvement in physical function
in the participants who reported exercising 150 minutes or more per
week.
The study, published in the November issue of
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, analyzed data from the physical
intervention arm of the Lifestyle Intervention and Independence for
Elders Pilot (Life-P).
The participants ranged in age from 70 to 89
years-old, were sedentary when they enrolled, had health problems, such
as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, and some physical
limitations such as difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
They followed a moderate exercise program that
consisted of walking, strength, flexibility, and balance training.
For the first six months of the study, the
participants exercised under supervision at one of four university
centers and at home. Center visits were optional during the second six
months. The participants filled out surveys to track their adherence to
the physical activity regimen during the center visits and at home.
The authors observed that physical activity
adherence was consistent with earlier studies that followed older adults
for shorter durations.
A future randomized trial would study a larger
population of elderly for a longer period of time.
Larger studies are needed to confirm that exercise
can improve physical function in elderly at high risk for physical
disabilities, said Fielding, who is also a professor at the Friedman
School of Nutrition Science and Policy and School of Medicine at Tufts
University.
What we found, however, is that this group can
commit to a regular program of physical activity in a long-term
randomized trial and the better their adherence to a program of physical
activity the greater their improvements in physical functioning.
Editors Notes:
This study was supported by the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institute on Aging,
part of the National Institutes of Health.
Fielding, RA, Katula, J, Miller, ME, Abbott-Pillola,
K, Jordan, A, Glynn, NW, Goodpaster, B, Walkup, MP, King, AC, Rejeski,
WJ, and for the Life Study Investigators. Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise. 2007 (November); 39 (11): 1997-2004. Activity Adherence and
Physical Function in Older Adults with Functional Limitations.
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of
Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent
school of nutrition in the United States. The schools eight centers,
which focus on questions relating to famine, hunger, poverty, and
communications, are renowned for the application of scientific research
to national and international policy.
For two decades, the Jean Mayer
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has
studied the relationship between good nutrition and good health in aging
populations. Tufts research scientists work with federal agencies to
establish the USDA Dietary Guidelines, the Dietary Reference Intakes,
and other significant public policies.
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