![Photo: Older woman exercising. Link to photo information](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080921092555im_/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/may05/D066-28crop.jpg)
Physical activity can improve
functionalityeven among elderly with some physical health problems.
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Elderly Improve With Exercise, Too
By Rosalie Marion
Bliss
March 14, 2008 The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans strongly urge people to engage in regular physical activity and avoid
sedentary pastimes. That's because previous research has provided evidence that
physical activity and nutrition work together for better health. Agricultural
Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists
have again reported on how the elderly also can engage in physical activity to
improve quality of life. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In a recent study involving a group of 213 volunteers aged 70 to 89 years,
the better the participants' adherence to a physical activity program, the
greater their improvements in physical functioning. The study was led by
physiologist
Roger
Fielding with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
(HNRCA)
at Tufts University, Boston, Mass. He is
director of the center's
Nutrition,
Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory.
At the beginning of the study, all of the male and female volunteers were
sedentary and had a variety of physical health problems. The researchers found
that more than half were able to engage in regular moderate exercise for one
year. Those who improved the most reported exercising 150 minutes or more per
week. The study was published in
Medicine
& Science in Sports & Exercise.
An earlier HNRCA study also showed that the elderly can get in step with
exercise. Each of 70 study volunteers, aged 70 years or older, were "aging
in place" (meaning living at home) and had some functional impairment. The
participants were randomly assigned to either a home-based progressive
strength, balance and general-physical-activity intervention, or to a group
that received home-based nutrition education.
After six months, each volunteer was tested for strength, balance, gait
speed and cardiovascular endurance. The researchers concluded that minimally
supervised exercise is safe and can improve functional performance in elderly
individuals. The study was published in Journals of Gerontology Series A:
Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.
Read more about ARS research and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in the
March 2008 issue of
Agricultural Research magazine.