An overview of the IANE Webinar held on 20 November 2024.
Speaker: Mercedes Zorrilla Tejeda
Author: Holly Giles
Reviewers: Sarah Armes
In recent decades, advancements in healthcare, sanitation, and nutrition have significantly increased life expectancy, enabling individuals to live longer than ever before. However, this rise in life expectancy has not been partnered with an increase in health expectancy —the number of years an individual can expect to live in good health. As a result, many older adults now face prolonged periods of living with chronic illnesses, disabilities, or diminished quality of life [1].
This discrepancy between life expectancy and health expectancy places additional strain on individuals, families, and healthcare systems, highlighting the importance of addressing not just longevity but also healthy aging through preventive care, lifestyle interventions, and better management of chronic conditions leading to an increase in the number of years older adults can expect to spend in poor health.
Exercise for Older Adults
One of the key methods to address the development of non-communicable diseases such as obesity and hypertension, is through regular exercise. All older adults should undertake regular physical activity totalling 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity each week, as well as muscle strengthening exercises on at least 2 days of the week [2].
Older adults should limit the amount of time they spend in a sedentary setting and replace this time with more active choices [2]. While exercise can be challenging for some older adults, social prescribing can be an effective way to encourage physical activity.
These initiatives provide support by offering access to safe environments, making the activity enjoyable, and boosting confidence to exercise safely.
Diet
In partnership with exercise, having a healthy diet is a key driver for quality of life in older adults. Micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition are common in this demographic, due to irregular and altered eating behaviours.
The Mediterranean diet has been associated with a wide range of health benefits, including reduced rates of obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome and dyslipidaemia [3]. Specifically for older adults, it has been associated with reduced age-related cognitive dysfunction and lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease [3].
However, it is recognised that this diet relies on home cooking, meaning upskilling may be needed to enable older adults to adopt this diet.
Sleep
Finally, sleep is crucial at all ages, especially for older adults. As well as physiological consequences, poor sleep impacts emotional health and mood, meaning older adults are then less likely to eat well or exercise.
It is has also been shown that sleep quality is associated with better health choices throughout the day [4], meaning it should be prioritised by older adults and health care providers.
Key Takeaway Messages
Regular exercise and a healthy diet are the most effective preventive measures to reduce dependency in older adults.
It is never too late to start exercising or eating well.
Small amounts of movements that are incrementally built-up will lead to benefits.
Sleep is essential to allow older adults to make good health decisions during the day.
Social prescription is a potential method to increase exercise engagement within the older adult community, including the use of ambassadors.
References
Wickramasinghe K, Mathers JC, Wopereis S, Marsman DS, Griffiths JC. From lifespan to healthspan: the role of nutrition in healthy ageing. J Nutr Sci. 2020;9:e33.
World Health Organisation. Promoting physical activity for older people: a toolkit for action. 2023. p. 31.
Guasch-Ferré M, Willett WC. The Mediterranean diet and health: a comprehensive overview. J Intern Med. 2021;290(3):549-66.
Ha J, Kim J. Factors influencing perceived health status among elderly workers: occupational stress, frailty, sleep quality, and motives for food choices. Clin Interv Aging. 2019;14:1493-501.
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