Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries (2011) / Chapter Skim
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4 The Role of Physical Activity
4 The Role of Physical Activity
Pages 56-68
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From page 56... ...
Nearly two millennia ago, the Roman poet Juvenal wrote of the importance of mens sana in corpore sano, or a healthy mind in a healthy body, and the ancient Greeks and Romans were well aware of the importance of exercise in maintaining a healthy body. Despite this ancient wisdom, accurate quantification of the effect of physical activity or physical fitness on various health outcomes, including the risk of mortality, has yet to be determined.
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From page 57... ...
. Self-reported data are easier to obtain but are vulnerable to recall error, reporting bias (if respondents systematically tend to exaggerate or downplay their level of physical activity)
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From page 58... ...
Both their high relative mortality risk and their low levels of exercise would likely be attributable to preexisting disease rather than to any effect of physical activity on mortality. It is also true that people with certain characteristics and behaviors (e.g., being poor and smoking)
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From page 59... ...
In short, there is considerable observational evidence that regular physical activity leads to improved health among older adults and, conversely, that a sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity is associated with an increased risk of developing a variety of physical, emotional, and mental problems. Intervention Studies Linking Physical Activity and Health in Older Adults Several investigators have conducted randomized intervention studies of the effect of physical activity on various measures of health among older adults.
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From page 60... ...
provide a list of such effects that have been identified in various studies. Regular physical activity has been linked to reduced blood pressure, improved lipid profiles, improved glucose metabolism, reduced levels of inflammatory markers, the induction of growth factors, and increased strength and flexibility.
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From page 61... ...
report the results of a meta-analysis of 38 prospective cohort studies conducted between 1990 and 2006 to investigate the effect of various levels of intensity of physical activity on all-cause mortality. All-cause mortality was significantly lower for active compared with sedentary individuals.
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From page 62... ...
The men who maintained a high level of physical activity over that time had a 32 percent lower chance of dying compared with the men who maintained a low level of physical activity. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4-1, the study found that men who previously had a low level of physical activity and then increased their activity level had relatively lower mortality risks over time.
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From page 63... ...
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS Given the large body of evidence linking physical activity and fitness to better health and lower mortality risk, it is natural to ask whether the perceived low levels of fitness and physical activity in the United States relative to other countries have contributed in some way to the recent underperformance of U.S. life expectancy.
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From page 64... ...
. cantly lower than in other countries is accurate, particularly in relation to those countries where life expectancy has been increasing at a faster rate than in the United States.
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From page 65... ...
4 United States (82.5) Denmark (34.1)
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From page 66... ...
One notable exception, however, is the United States. The level of physical activity reported in the HRS is significantly lower than that in the IPS sample, probably because the former was restricted to adults aged 50 and above, while the IPS survey was based on a sample aged 40-65.
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From page 67... ...
Physical inactivity 25 20 Prevalence (%) 15 10 5 0 Netherlands Greece Sweden Poland Czech R Austria Italy France Spain USA Belgium England Germany Denmark Switzerland FIGURE 4-4 Physical inactivity in adults aged 50 and over in Europe and the United States.
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From page 68... ...
found that these measures of physical activity were significantly correlated with self-reported health for both men and women, while levels of inactivity were positively correlated with the prevalence of diabetes across countries. On the other hand, a regression analysis of the relationship between levels of physical activity and life expectancy at age 50 for men in various countries failed to find a significant relationship after controlling for one outlier.
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