Many types of leisure activities can lower the risk of death for older adults

The findings suggest that it is important for older adults to engage in leisure activities that they enjoy and can maintain, because many types of these activities can lower the risk of death, the authors wrote.

The findings will be published on August 24 JAMA network opened.

Using data from 272,550 adults between the ages of 59 and 82 who completed questionnaires about their leisure activities as part of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the researchers looked at whether they participated in equivalent amounts of seven different exercise and recreational activities. – which includes running, cycling, swimming, other aerobic exercise, racquet sports, golf and walking for exercise – was associated with a reduced risk of death.

The researchers found that achieving the recommended amount of physical activity per week through a combination of these activities was associated with a 13% lower risk of death from any cause, compared to not participating in these activities. When they looked at the role of each activity separately, playing racquet sports was associated with a 16% reduction in risk and running with a 15% reduction. However, all activities studied were similarly associated with a lower risk of death.

The second edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults engage in 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week.

The activity levels of the most active individuals (those who exceeded recommended levels of physical activity) were associated with an even greater reduction in the risk of death, but there were diminishing returns as activity levels increased. Even people who did some recreational activity, although less than the recommended amount, had a 5% reduction in the risk of death than those who did not participate in any of the activities studied.

These activities were also associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. Playing racquet sports was associated with the greatest reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease deaths (27% reduction), while running was associated with the greatest reduction in the risk of cancer deaths (19% reduction). .