Physical Activity, Public Health, and Aging: Critical Issues and Research Priorities

Abstract

HYSICAL inactivity in older adults is a major public health concern. Although increasing physical activity (PA) is a national health priority (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2000), promoting activity in older adults has only recently been emphasized, as in the National Blueprint for Increasing Physical Activity in Adults Age 50 and Older (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2001). As a result, the evidence for public health efforts to promote PA for older adults is modest and needs strengthening. In order to inform public health practice, this article presents a position paper of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Aging Research Network on the status of research in PA and aging. The mission of the Healthy Aging Research Network is to better understand the determinants of healthy aging, identify interventions that promote healthy aging, and assist in the translation of such research into sustainable community-based programs.The purpose of this article is to set a research agenda. To do this, we will (a) specify key issues in public health, PA, and aging, (b) identify knowledge needed to make informed public health recommendations and develop PA interventions in older adults, and (c) recommend research priorities to address those gaps. We have organized this article around four questions designed to serve as a framework for a public health agenda in PA and aging:

Antecedents of Physical Activity Among Family Caregivers

“…While it is recommended that all items be added for a total time of physical activity per week, activities were separated into three categories; strength/resistance activities, aerobic activities and walking. Given the differences between aerobic and strength training among older adults and the importance of both types of activity to the health of older adults (Prohaska, Belansky, Belza, Buchner, Marshall, McTigue, et al, 2006) aerobic and strength activities were analyzed separately, as was walking, given that it is the most common form of exercise among older adults (Simpson et al, 2003). Total time for activity was dichotomized into two categories: (a) sedentary: < 30 minutes per week or (b) active: ≥ 30 minutes per week.…”

Physical activity assessment and health outcomes in old age: how valid are dose–response relationships in epidemiologic studies?

“…To adequately assess health-relevant PA and EE for older populations in epidemiologic studies, questionnaires and methods should be designed which are more sensitive to the unstructured and complex PA common among the elderly [28]. To be most accurate, the sampling interval, the PA and EE units used, should be sensitive to both brief periods of activity and low-intensity activity.…”

Young adults’ leisure -time habits in the University of Alicante

“…Numerous survey and research highlight the beneficial effects of sports to our health (Burke et al, 1997;Prohaska, 2006). It is also an undeniable fact that sport is preventive against diseases and what more; in case of certain lingering illness it minimizes the frequency of medical treatments (Gauchard, 2001;Jákó, 2003).…”