Healthy Ageing and Physical Activity

This article discusses the definition of ageing, healthy ageing, and physical exercise. It highlights the importance of regular exercise and its benefits, including boosting cardiorespiratory performance, slowing down bone loss, regulating obesity, and reducing premature death. The article also explores the relationship between healthy ageing and regular physical exercise, emphasizing how physical activities can keep the heart and bones healthy, improve mental functions, and reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood.

Running head: HEALTHY AGEING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Healthy ageing and physical activity
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HEALTHY AGEING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Table of Contents
Definition of ageing, healthy ageing and physical exercise.......................................................2
Importance of regular exercise...................................................................................................2
Relationship between healthy ageing and regular physical exercise.........................................3
References..................................................................................................................................4

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HEALTHY AGEING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Definition of ageing, healthy ageing and physical exercise
Ageing: Ageing is a sequential process where structural and functional changes accumulate
within the body of a person. Ageing is an irreversible process and is a wide ranging
phenomenon. It involves changes at the physical, social and psychological level.
Healthy ageing: Ageing is characterised as a stage where an individual is expected to have
passed through the majority of life experiences and possesses knowledge and wisdom
pertaining to all relevant areas of life. It could be defined as a stage when some of the vital
body organs start losing their ability to function. Healthy ageing is the development and
maintenance of optimal social, mental and physical well being (Hamer et al. 2013).
Physical exercise: Ageing is inevitable, though it varies in its extent and origin within
different people (Reiner et al. 2013). However, performing physical exercises and activities
can facilitate in the process of effective ageing.
Importance of regular exercise
There are a number of health benefits of regular exercises such as the boosting up of
cardiorespiratory performance. The exercises make the heart pump greater volume of blood
which facilitates nutrient exchange and waste removal. As mentioned by Hudson (2017), the
increased blood flow to the muscles during exercise helps in the development of muscle
endurance. The exercises play a key role in slowing down the loss of bones as the stress
generated during physical activity increases bone density and strength (Daskalopoulou et al.
2017).
The physical activitities can positively regulate the production of epinephrine and
noon-epinephrine from the brain, which in turn regulates a number of feedback loops or

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HEALTHY AGEING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
mechanisms (McPhee et al. 2016). Physical activity tightly controls the development of
obesity which contributes significantly towards the development of coronary heart disease
(Beard et al. 2016). It has been seen that physical inactivity contributes significantly towards
premature death.
Relationship between healthy ageing and regular physical exercise
The undertaking of physical activities on a regular basis has been seen to keep the
heart and bones healthy along with slowing the ageing process. As reported by Lewis et al.
(2017), regular physical activity could keep the calories in control, as high calories have been
associated with obesity. The development of obesity could severely impact upon the hart
health by modulating the cardiorespiratory activity in the long run. Physical activity can
improve the mental functions within an individual. As mentioned by Zhang et al. (2016),
sedentary lifestyle promotes premature onset of ill health. It has been seen that the
participation in physical activities reduces with old age.
Oseteoporosis and muscular weakness could be reducing by low intensity walk.
Hence, the older people could be encouraged to participate in physical exercises or activities.
As reported by Hudson (2017), high levels of physical activity have been seen to increase the
odds of healthy ageing by 39%. The ones who became physically active later in life were
found to have overall health improved. Regular physical activity could contribute towards
reducing the amount of bad cholesterol present in the blood by mobilising them to the liver
where they undergo rapid breakdown and processing. The physical activities increase the
supply of blood to skin and muscles, which naturally slows down the skin ageing process
giving a much younger look.

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HEALTHY AGEING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
References
Beard, J.R., Officer, A., de Carvalho, I.A., Sadana, R., Pot, A.M., Michel, J.P., Lloyd-
Sherlock, P., Epping-Jordan, J.E., Peeters, G.G., Mahanani, W.R. and Thiyagarajan, J.A.,
2016. The World report on ageing and health: a policy framework for healthy ageing. The
Lancet, 387(10033), pp.2145-2154.
Daskalopoulou, C., Stubbs, B., Kralj, C., Koukounari, A., Prince, M. and Prina, A.M., 2017.
Physical activity and healthy ageing: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal
cohort studies. Ageing research reviews, 38, pp.6-17.
Hamer, M., Lavoie, K.L. and Bacon, S.L., 2013. Taking up physical activity in later life and
healthy ageing: the English longitudinal study of ageing. British journal of sports medicine,
pp.bjsports-2013.
Hudson, J., 2017. Healthy ageing and physical activity: personal narratives as barriers and
agents of change, pp.205-265.
Lewis, B.A., Napolitano, M.A., Buman, M.P., Williams, D.M. and Nigg, C.R., 2017. Future
directions in physical activity intervention research: expanding our focus to sedentary
behaviors, technology, and dissemination. Journal of behavioral medicine, 40(1), pp.112-
126.
McPhee, J.S., French, D.P., Jackson, D., Nazroo, J., Pendleton, N. and Degens, H., 2016.
Physical activity in older age: perspectives for healthy ageing and
frailty. Biogerontology, 17(3), pp.567-580.

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HEALTHY AGEING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Reiner, M., Niermann, C., Jekauc, D. and Woll, A., 2013. Long-term health benefits of
physical activity–a systematic review of longitudinal studies. BMC public health, 13(1),
p.813.
Zhang, J., Brackbill, D., Yang, S., Becker, J., Herbert, N. and Centola, D., 2016. Support or
competition? How online social networks increase physical activity: A randomized controlled
trial. Preventive medicine reports, 4, pp.453-458.