Older Women Pounding the Pavement More: Report

ABC News

November 14, 2008

Australia

Older women are doing more to get fit than ever before, with a new report showing more than half of females over 45 now meet exercise recommendations.

The growing popularity of walking is behind the new trend, with research showing a direct link between more exercise and better mental and physical health.

"You don't have to be a gym junkie," said lead researcher Professor Wendy Brown from the School of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland.

"You can get out and walk. Just doing something each day is vitally important so that you can continue to look after yourself as you get older."

The study involving 26,000 Australian women found the number of women doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week increased from 45 to 54 per cent between 2001 and 2004.

The women changing their habits were typically aged between 45 and 55, newly retired, divorced, or with children who had recently left home.

"So when their caring responsibilities go down they have a bit of discretionary time, and they're using that time to get out and exercise, which is fantastic," Professor Brown said.

She said the same increase had not been seen in younger women, but they should be encouraged to exercise more for the sake of their health.

"It's a message to other women to say even if you have family responsibilities, it's really important to try to fit in at least 30 minutes a day," Professor Brown said.

The researchers said the shift to better exercise habits was probably being driven by rising awareness of the ills of obesity, but they stressed that physical activity brought more benefits than weight loss alone.

The report found that older women who exercised more had lower rates of anxiety and depression, slightly fewer memory problems, reduced risk of falls and less cardiovascular disease.

Healthcare costs were about 25 per cent higher among sedentary women.

"From that you might extrapolate that one quarter of healthcare costs could be saved if everybody (met guidelines)," Professor Brown said.

Launching the report in Sydney, Federal Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek said females should be encouraged by the findings.

"It shows that it's never too late to start, and I think that's a really important message."

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