Light Activity Measured With Fitness Tracker Linked to Lower Mortality in Older Women

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society focused on how much exercise older adults can perform and its affect on their health, reports EurekAlert . The researchers studied 6,489 female participants aged 63 to 99 years old, who consented to take in-home exams, answer health questionnaires, wear accelerometers, and keep sleep logs. The study was performed between 2012 and 2013, and at the start most participants were in their late 70s and considered overweight according to BMI standards, while almost 30 percent were considered obese. A majority of participants scored 8.2 out of a possible 12 points on physical function assessments. Accelerometer measurements determined 1 percent of the participants performed "low" light-intensity physical activity, 29 percent performed "high" light-intensity physical activity, and 15 percent performed moderate to vigorous physical activity. After accounting for the deaths in the women according to their activity levels, the researchers found older women with higher levels of physical activity were less likely to die than those with lower levels, regardless of the cause of death. The researchers believe their results support encouraging older women to boost the amount of time they spend every day in light-intensity physical activity, and lower the amount of time when sedentary.