Although populations around the world are rapidly ageing, evidence that increasing longevity is being accompanied by an extended period of good health is scarce. A coherent and focused public health response that spans multiple sectors and stakeholders is urgently needed. To guide this global response, WHO has released the first World report on ageing and health, reviewing current knowledge and gaps and providing a public health framework for action. The report is built around a redefinition of healthy ageing that centres on the notion of functional ability: the combination of the intrinsic capacity of the individual, relevant environmental characteristics, and the interactions between the individual and these characteristics. This Health Policy highlights key findings and recommendations from the report.

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Background This study uses data from the World Health Organization’s Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) to examine patterns of hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control for people aged 50 years and over in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation and South Africa.Methods The SAGE sample comprises of 35 125 people aged 50 years and older, selected randomly. Hypertension was defined as ≥140 mmHg (systolic blood pressure) or ≥90 mmHg (diastolic blood pressure) or by currently taking antihypertensives. Control of hypertension was defined as blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg on treatment. A person was defined as aware if he/she was hypertensive and self-reported the condition.Results Prevalence rates in all countries are broadly comparable to those of developed countries (52.9%; range 32.3% in India to 77.9% in South Africa). Hypertension was associated with overweight/obesity and was more common in women, those in the lowest wealth quintile and in heavy alcohol consumers. Awareness was found to be low for all countries, albeit with substantial national variations (48.3%; range 23.3% in Ghana to 72.1% in the Russian Federation). This was also the case for control (10.2%; range 4.1% in Ghana to 14.1% India) and treatment efficacy (26.3%; range 17.4% in the Russian Federation to 55.2% in India). Awareness was associated with increasing age, being female and being overweight or obese. Effective control of hypertension was more likely in older people, women and in the richest quintile. Obesity was associated with poorer control.Conclusions The high rates of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries are striking. Levels of treatment and control are inadequate despite half those sampled being aware of their condition. Since cardiovascular disease is by far the largest cause of years of life lost in these settings, these findings emphasize the need for new approaches towards control of this major risk factor.

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Background: The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether perceived sports competence mediates the relationship between childhood motor skill proficiency and subsequent adolescent physical activity and fitness.

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Healthy ageing can be defined as "the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age". Functional ability (i.e., the health-related attributes that enable people to be and to do what they have reason to value) is determined by intrinsic capacity (i.e., the composite of all the physical and mental capacities of an individual), the environment (i.e., all the factors in the extrinsic world that form the context of an individual's life), and the interactions between the two. This innovative model recently proposed by the World Health Organization has the potential to substantially modify the way in which clinical practice is currently conducted, shifting from disease-centered toward function-centered paradigms. By overcoming the multiple limitations affecting the construct of disease, this novel framework may allow the worldwide dissemination of a more proactive and function-based approach toward achieving optimal health status. In order to facilitate the translation of the current theoretical model into practice, it is important to identify the inner nature of its constituting constructs. In this article, we consider intrinsic capacity. Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework as background and taking into account available evidence, five domains (i.e., locomotion, vitality, cognition, psychological, sensory) are identified as pivotal for capturing the individual's intrinsic capacity (and therefore also reserves) and, through this, pave the way for its objective measurement.

Children with good object control skills are more likely to become fit adolescents. Fundamental motor skill development in childhood may be an important component of interventions aiming to promote long-term fitness.