Obesity may lead to many medical disorders like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc. that may ultimately lead one to death. Nevertheless, a group of researchers at the University of South Carolina has found that people over the age of 60 who exercise are fit to live longer than their sedentary peers, regardless of weight and body mass.
Staying fit seems to be the way to live longer!
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on December 4, 2007, showed that obesity and sedentary habits increased the risk of death in middle-aged adults. It tested the premise for the first time among older adults.
The researchers observed that fit individuals who were obese had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than did unfit normal-weight or lean individuals. Such data therefore suggested that fitness levels in older individuals influence the association of obesity to mortality.
The 1979-2001 research focused on the relation between cardiovascular fitness and adiposity and death rates among 2,063 adults aged 60 years and older. A total of 450 people who were older, less fit and at greater risk of heart disease than those who survived died during the study. Treadmill exercise was utilized to assess the physical fitness, while body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and percentage of body fat were used to measure obesity.
It is important to note that the researchers did not advocate that obesity and fat distribution should be ignored. They just wanted to alert people that they should look at other important things besides simple weight. Fitness is just one of them!
So start exercising! This was the advice given by the researchers to the out-of-shape older adults.
They recommended older adults should take up light to moderate exercise for duration of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. It does not matter whether this will help lose a lot of weight. But, this certainly will help one keep fit and it will indeed improve one's health and function.
According to the study, 22 percent of the US population or 70 million people will be older than 65 years old.
Staying fit seems to be the way to live longer!
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on December 4, 2007, showed that obesity and sedentary habits increased the risk of death in middle-aged adults. It tested the premise for the first time among older adults.
The researchers observed that fit individuals who were obese had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than did unfit normal-weight or lean individuals. Such data therefore suggested that fitness levels in older individuals influence the association of obesity to mortality.
The 1979-2001 research focused on the relation between cardiovascular fitness and adiposity and death rates among 2,063 adults aged 60 years and older. A total of 450 people who were older, less fit and at greater risk of heart disease than those who survived died during the study. Treadmill exercise was utilized to assess the physical fitness, while body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and percentage of body fat were used to measure obesity.
It is important to note that the researchers did not advocate that obesity and fat distribution should be ignored. They just wanted to alert people that they should look at other important things besides simple weight. Fitness is just one of them!
So start exercising! This was the advice given by the researchers to the out-of-shape older adults.
They recommended older adults should take up light to moderate exercise for duration of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. It does not matter whether this will help lose a lot of weight. But, this certainly will help one keep fit and it will indeed improve one's health and function.
According to the study, 22 percent of the US population or 70 million people will be older than 65 years old.
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