your body: Use It Or Lose It!

(SPM Wire)  Keeping active can do more than help you maintain a healthy body weight -- it can lead to better basic physical abilities as you age.

New research proves that maintaining physical activity in middle age leads to better basic physical abilities as we age, and that weight is not a deciding factor.

A newly-concluded study has revealed a direct link between levels of physical activity in middle age and physical ability later in life - regardless of body weight.

Researchers found that middle-aged people who maintained a reasonable level of physical activity were less likely to become unable to walk distances, climb stairs, maintain their sense of balance, stand from a seated position with their arms folded, or sustain their hand grip as they get older.

The study showed that, among men and women aged 50 to 69 years and across all weight ranges, the rate of decreased physical ability later in life was twice as high among those who were less physically active.

"Exercise in middle age does not just benefit people in terms of weight loss -- it also helps them to remain physically healthy and active later in life," said Dr. Iain Lang, who led the research team which conducted the new study at the Peninsula Medical School in the UK.

Findings showed that being overweight or obese was associated with an overall increased risk of physical impairment but that, regardless of weight, people who engaged in heavy housework or gardening, who played sports, or who had a physically active job were more likely to remain mobile later in life.

Physical activity of about 30 minutes three or more times a week resulted in fewer than 13 per cent of people developing some sort of physical disability, while this rate increased to 24 per cent where subjects were less active.

The research team studied 8,702 participants in a recent US Health and Retirement Study and 1,507 people taking part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Each subject was followed for up to six years.

So get out there and get moving to help ensure mobility later in life.