Older people who utilise their energy in their daily activities are less likely to die as compared to those who are less active. Researchers from the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Maryland found that higher energy use is associated with lower risk of death in older adults. Any movement is better than no movement at all. This could appeal to many older adults who are intimidated by exercise. The researching team used a technique called the doubly labelled water method, which determines how many calories a person burns over a two-week period by measuring the amount of carbon dioxide they produce. It is considered the gold standard measure of activity thermogenesis or activity energy use in a person's normal environment. The researchers studied 302 men and women aged 70-82 years of age, all of whom were active - meaning they could walk at least a quarter-mile on their own and lived independently. The researchers subtracted the amount of calories people burned at rest from their total energy expenditure to determine the amount of energy they used during activity. The team classified the subjects based on energy expenditure as - high, middle or low. Fifty-five of the study participants, or 18 percent, died during an average follow-up of a little more than six years. The mortality rate was 12 percent for the group of most active study participants, compared to nearly 25 percent for the least active group. The difference doesn't appear to be due to less active people being sicker than the most active individuals. None of the study participants had any terminal illness, and there was no difference in the number of diseases or types of diseases between the most active group and the least active group. People in the high-energy expenditure group were more likely to report working for pay, and they climbed two flights of stairs each day than those in the lowest-energy expenditure group. However, there was no difference among the three groups in the amount of structured activity they reported, such as walking or high intensity exercise. About 30 percent of the energy expended by the most active people in the study was likely due to self-reported physical activity, while the rest came from non-exercise activities like standing, moving around the room and fidgeting. The findings suggest, that energy expenditure from everyday activities like gardening, grocery shopping and washing dishes was largely responsible for the survival benefits.
Journal of the American Medical Association,
July 2006