Staying Active Later in Life Helps Promote Healthy Aging

Staying fit into old age can be difficult to maintain. Bones and muscles may weaken more easily, and it can be particularly difficult to keep up up with regular fitness activity that many may have previously engaged in.

However, recent findings show that keeping a healthy routine is not only essential part of physical health for elderly age, it's also particularly important for mental health, as well.
According to researchers from the University College London and the Montreal Behavioural Medicine Center, they found that regular physical activity had a positive effect on older adult's long-term health. It was also found to lower the risk for the development of various behavioural mental issues. 

"In a growing elderly population, healthy ageing is becoming a crucial factor to reduce the burden of disease and disability and related healthcare costs," the study notes. "Emerging evidence suggests that regular physical activity is among the most important lifestyle factors for maintenance fo good health at older ages."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that because the population of Americans age 65 and olderis expected to double in the nex 25 years to approximately 72 million due to longer life spans and aging baby boomers, the health organization notes that adults will account for roughly 20 percent of the American population. 

Researchers tracked the health of close to 3,500 people with an average age of 64 who were part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing that draws information from a national representative sample of the population in England. 

Throughout the course of four years, close to 9 percent of participants remained inactive and nearly 12 percent became inactive. Yet 70 percent of the participants remained active and 9 percent became active, particpating in physical activity at least once a day.

As it's suggested that individuals over the age of 65 involve themselves in moderate-intesity aerobic activity around two and a half hours a week, the eight-year monitoring period showed that almost four out of 10 percent of the participants developed a physical or mental health condition if they did not do so.

The study was funded by National Institute on Aging in the U.S. and a consortium of U.K. government departments.