How much physical activity should the older population be doing?

The four UK Chief Medical Officers have recently published Start Young Stay Active which updates existing guidelines for children, young people and adults but for the first time, includes specific guidance on physical activity for older adults (65+).

For the first time this guidance highlights the risks of Sedentary Behaviour and this is an important step forward for increasing the effectiveness of services for older people. Even if people meet physical activity targets, if they sit for prolonged periods in between, they still have a higher risk of poor health. Studies show that nursing home residents spend 80-90% of their time sitting or lying down, rehabilitation wards often only manage to provide one daily dose of mobilisation and in between the patients sit or lie down for prolonged periods. The accompanying Technical Report and its’ detailed appendices, provide a detailed description and rational for these guidelines but the key headlines recommendations include.

1.Older adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes (2 1/2hrs) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more – one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week.

2.Older adults should also undertake physical activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week and older adults at risk of falls (over 30% of those 65+) should incorporate physical activity to improve balance and co-ordination on at least two days a week.

3.All Older adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods.

These guidelines now focus our attention wider than previous advice e.g. “just thinking ’30 minutes of moderate physical activity on at least 5 days of the week’. The importance of strength and balance are now given appropriate attention in these public health guidelines as well as sedentary behaviour.

They will also be a further lever for change in the new commissioning culture within England and for those attempting to secure or maintain funding for their services that do help older people meet their potential, maintain independence and age actively. Moreover, they provide health and social care professionals with an important challenge to look at how these guidelines can be translated into meaningful and motivation messages for a public audience.

Bob Laventure

The 8th World Congress on Active Ageing will be held in Glasgow, 13th – 17th August 2012. For more information visit www.wcaa2012.com

Details of the Start Young Stay Active report are available at http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2011/07/physical-activity-guidelines/