One in three does not reach the recommended dose of movement, one in five does not reach half an hour of movement a week; women over 75 are 30 percent less likely than boys to be active
Two and a half hours of moderate physical activity per week they cut mortality from all causes, from cardiovascular disease to cancer, by up to 30 percent. Yet, the elderly do not move enough and especially women who are no longer very young are “lazy”: women over 75 are 30 per cent less likely to be active than their male peers. The geriatricians explained it during the last congress of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (SIGG), urging older women to get enough exercise.
Little movement
“One out of three over 65s moves less than the 150 minutes a week recommended and necessary for a protective effect on mortality, one in five does not exercise even for 30 minutes a week – he explains Francesco Landi of the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Hospital Foundation of Rome, president of the congress —. Women are often less active than their male peers: among them the idea of not being “sporty types” is more widespread, twice as much as it happens in men, and this prevents many from engaging in physical exercise, with a gap between the two sexes that increases over the years. In the older ones, then, there are also practical obstacles: many over 65 look after grandchildren or other family membershalf of them have just four hours of free time a week, i.e. no more than 35 minutes a day for themselves. Think about exercise programs tailored to the third and fourth agebut also to support older women so that they can have time to devote to motor activity, is a fundamental investment for their health”.
Sports for all
Physical activity is good for countless reasons: keeps the cardiovascular and respiratory systems healthy, promotes the maintenance of a good balance by avoiding falls, helps to avoid the reduction in lean muscle mass which is associated with an increase in mortality. It is forbidden to think that as an elderly person one cannot engage in a sport one likes: there are many disciplines in which to measure oneself and for all tastes and ages because, as Landi concludes, «choosing a sport and practicing it means lengthening life: some time ago the Copenhagen City Heart Study, which followed more than 8,500 men and women for 25 years, showed that play tennisfor example, extends life by just under ten years, ride a bicycle of almost four, swim or run of more than three. It is a question of opting for the most suitable activity for oneself and at any age one can find the right one or choose one’s favorite sport based on one’s characteristics and degree of physical fitness».
December 2, 2022 (change December 2, 2022 | 17:14)
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