Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100119
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JANE BRODY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
While the overall share of adults who are physically active has not increased in about a decade - about 30 percent are completely sedentary, and nearly 60 percent participate in fewer than three 20-minute exercise sessions a week - men and women 65 and older are gradually getting the message and becoming more active.
In fact, based on the latest federally sponsored analysis, they are coming closer than younger adults to achieving the Surgeon General's goals for the year 2000.
One of the national health objectives is to reduce to 22 percent the share of adults 65 and older who engage in no leisure-time physical activity.
In 1987, when 32 states and the District of Columbia began collecting data, 43.2 percent of older people were completely sedentary. Five years later, the percentage had dropped to 38.5 percent.
In 19 states that gathered annual data, there was a moderate overall improvement in the share of older residents who reported some leisure-time physical activity. In three states - New York, Maryland and New Mexico - and in the District of Columbia, there was a consistent annual decline in the share of respondents who were completely sedentary.
In no state did the percentage of sedentary older residents increase each year during the five-year period.
However, in projecting activity trends to the year 1997, researchers concluded that only three states - Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Minnesota - would meet the Healthy People 2000 objective and that Americans overall would fall significantly short of the national goal.
Perhaps older people are more willing to take up exercise because many have retired and have more time. But the most common excuse younger adults give for not exercising - ``I don't have time'' - is belied by the fact that 84 percent watch at least three hours of television each week. If that time were spent exercising, the result would probably be significant improvement in the nation's health and a decline in health care expenditures.
Regular physical activity comes closer to being a fountain of youth than anything modern medicine can offer. Researchers have documented many improvements in the health and well-being of older Americans who take up exercise, and they have shown that it is never too late to start. The major areas of benefit are these:
Heart disease and stroke: Physical activity can halve the risk of developing heart disease or suffering a stroke.
Cancer: Exercise lowers the risk of developing cancer of the colon, one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men and women.
Osteoporosis: At any age at which exercise is begun, it can increase the density of bones and reduce the risk of fractures. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that exercise need not be weight-bearing to foster bone density; stationary cycling and water aerobics may help as well.
Diabetes: Older people who are physically active are less likely to develop diabetes than sedentary people.
Weight: Exercise helps people maintain a normal body weight or, when combined with a moderate reduction in calories, fosters weight loss. Most important, exercise helps people lose fat and gain muscle. That makes it easier to maintain weight loss because muscle tissue burns more calories than fat does.
Immunity: Exercise increases the circulation of the immune cells that fight infections and tumors. Physically fit people get fewer colds and other respiratory infections than people who are not fit.
Arthritis: Nearly everyone over 65 has some arthritic symptoms. Studies suggest that regular moderate exercise combined with stretching can reduce arthritic pain and the need for medication.
Depression: Exercise has long been known to help people overcome clinical depression, so it is not much of a stretch to conclude that it can help to prevent the depression that is so common, albeit often hidden, in older people.
Gastrointestinal bleeding: Regular physical activity significantly decreases the risk of severe gastrointestinal hemorrhage in older people, probably by improving circulation to the digestive tract.
Memory: Even brief periods of mild exercise can result in immediate improvements in memory in older adults. Exercise also fosters clearer thinking and faster reaction time by helping to speed the transmission of nerve messages.
Sleep: A study by researchers at Stanford and Emory Universities showed that in older adults who were initially sedentary, regular exercise, like brisk walking, improved sleep quality and shortened the time it took to fall asleep.
With the guidance of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the American Association of Retired Persons has published a 32-page illustrated guide to fitness activities for older adults. Called ``Pep Up Your Life: A Fitness Book for Mid-Life and Older Persons,'' the booklet can be obtained, at no charge for single copies, by writing to the American Association of Retired Persons, Fulfillment Department, 601 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20049.
The National Association for Human Development has prepared three booklets on exercises - basic, moderate and advanced - for people over 60. Each one costs $3 and can be obtained from the association at 1424 16th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
Yablon Enterprises Inc., in collaboration with Creative Fitness Inc., a company that develops fitness programs for older adults, has produced ``Senior Shape-Up,'' which consists of two audio tapes and a 41-page manual and is available for $36 postpaid from Yablon Enterprises Inc., P.O. Box 7475, Steelton, Pa. 17113.
by CNB