Because folks over age 65 will make up 40 percent of the U.S. population in 30 years, according to the Census Bureau, quality of life looms as an important public health issue as baby boomers head into retirement. Figuring out how seniors can best maintain it was a major goal of the recently completed Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) Study, conducted at eight sites across the United States, including Tufts, the University of Florida and Northwestern and Stanford universities.
Scientists already knew that the ability to walk without assistance is hugely important in keeping elders independent; that is, able to care for themselves and live on their own. Rates of disease, disability and death are much higher among people with reduced mobility. That's why the study investigators—including Roger Fielding, a senior scientist and director of the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts—believe keeping older Americans moving will also ease the burden on the health-care system.
[For more of this story, written by Jacqueline Mitchell, go to http://medicalxpress.com/news/...medicine-health.html]
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