Fitness in Middle Age

                                                Fitness in Middle age

 

One of the problems of generational thinking is that twenty years ago for instance sport was considered something that young people did. In your twenties you played sport such as cricket or football. In your thirties you still played a little but the interest was fading and by our forties you gave it up.

The problem with this approach was that exercise as a way of fighting many of the problems associated with aging was never considered. People in their forties lived entirely sedentary lives, developed their beer bellies and forgot about sport completely. However nothing could be further from the truth as modern research is indicating that fitness is a goal that has to be pursued to middle age and beyond.

For one thing Exercise is now recommended by doctors to fight some of the modern conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity. These already take a toll on the society and make or a very different outlook as health services are stretched to breaking point dealing with the consequences of our unhealthy lifestyles.

The problem now is about spreading the message and there is an increasing amount of evidence that it is taking time to get through.  For instance two thirds of the adult male population over 20 is considered to be overweight or obese. The incidence in the female population is a bit lower but not much. The fact that exercise also has an effect on other problems as well such as the control of depression in many cases makes it imperative that these ideas are changed.

One of the problems is actually going to be to make it easier for people to access gyms and swimming pools and to promote the idea of regular exercise.  In this the educators still have a long way to go in terms of changing attitudes for the general population of the country.

The incidence of obesity in children is also rising which is also going to make a ticking time bomb of the society with the risk that these children will go on two develop obesity related conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

In avoiding these conditions diet plays a part but exercise has to some extent been the Cinderella and attitudes will have to change. A lot of preventative health will have to focus on changing entrenched attitudes and making physical exercise more acceptable.

Among certain groups of people usually on the higher end of the socioeconomic scale there is evidence that this is happening. However there is still a long way to go!