HHS HealthBeat (September 12, 2006)

Spend your energy, save your health

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ray Sass with HHS HealthBeat.

Staying active can help seniors keep healthy. But this doesn't have to mean joining a gym.

Dr. Todd Manini of the National Institutes of Health led a study following people ages 70 to 82 who lived independently and had no big health problems. Some were more active than others.

"We found that over an eight-year time period, older adults in the low-activity group had three time greater risk of death when compared to older adults in the high-activity group." (10 seconds)

On average, the highly active seniors took the stairs more, and worked for pay, rather than volunteering or not working at all.

So?

"For older adults, any movement is better than no movement, and this can come from usual daily activities." (7 seconds)

The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ray Sass.

Last revised: May 7, 2011