Study Shows Aging Adults Avoid Exercise Because Of Health Worries
Posted on: Saturday, 18 April 2009, 12:40 CDT
New research suggests that older adults who worry about their health often opt out of physical activity, resulting in greater trouble walking and getting around as they age, Reuters reported.Bradley Cardinal, of the department of nutrition and exercise science at Oregon State University in Corvallis, who was involved in the study, said the research shows that a key component to avoid walking difficulty in older adults is to resolve health worry issues earlier in life.
Studies in the past have shown that "health worry" may motivate people to exercise regularly and engage in other healthy behaviors.
However, the current study suggests that isn’t always so.
The researchers observed 7,527 adults aged 70 and older participating in the Longitudinal Study of Aging and found that people with a high degree of health worry engaged in less physical activity than those who worried less about their health.
Additionally, it found that those who participated in less physical activity were more likely than their more active counterparts to report having trouble walking 6 years later.
The researchers suggest that because physical function decreases with age and safety concerns arise, older adults may not choose physical activity as a response to health worry.
The study, which was published in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, also noted that health professionals, the media, fitness instructors and family and friends may use warnings of illness or premature death to try to motivate aging adults to become more physically active .
But Cardinal said this might be counterproductive, suggesting that aging adults may avoid physical activity because they are so fearful of their health.
Using threats and fear-tactics to encourage physical activity in older adults will not work, he added.
Cardinal and colleagues recommended that a more productive approach in dealing with health concerns in the aging population is to provide health-related information and screening tools before beginning a physical activity routine—advice they say may help ease health concerns and promote participation in physical activity.
He told Reuters Health the simple message from the study is that people should be encouraged to walk.
"To encourage walking, people should avoid fear-raising tactics. Rather, the emphasis should be on walking for fun, for health, for transportation," he said.
He also warned that fear-inducing strategies often cause older adults to worry about things like falling, which diminishes their desire to walk, and in turn diminishes their ability to walk.
“It is a vicious cycle," Cardinal warned.
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Source: redOrbit Staff
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