60-year-olds are often fitter than young people

One study found that young adults in the majority are less fit than students or people between the ages of 50 and 60 years. The reasons are lack of exercise, obesity and smoking.

06.11.2012

For the fitness of young people in Germany, it is apparently badly ordered. At any rate, this is the conclusion of a study by the German Sport University in Cologne. For example, most young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are less likely to be physically fit than students aged between 50 and 60 years. The main reasons for this, according to researchers, are lack of exercise, unhealthy diet and cigarette consumption.

Young adults in Germany tend to be limp faster than people between 50 and 60 years of age. This is the result of an unhealthy lifestyle characterized by overweight, smoking and lack of exercise. According to expert and study author Alexander Sievert, "50 to 60-year-olds are fitter than young men and women".

For the research work, the results of which were also published in the Deutsches Ärzteblatt, the scientists of the "Research Group Performance Epidemiology" collected the data of 8,000 women and men between the ages of 10 and 25 years. It was found that only about 28 percent of men and about 35 percent of women showed no risk factors for, for example, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. "Already the presence of only one of the risk factors examined is associated with significant performance losses, which increase further with each additional risk feature", the authors write in their communication. The results show that an unhealthy lifestyle already leads to considerable performance losses "after a short" exposure time ". Because about 50 percent "of the 24- to 25-year-olds did not reach the performance level of the 14- to 15-year-olds during the study."

Young adults could not keep up with students
In a 1000-meter run, in many cases participants were unable to keep up with the students, although the peak of physical performance is usually between the ages of 25 and 35 years. "The performance and health of the younger generation not only have individual effects on their personal future but also far-reaching social consequences". For "physical performance is also very closely related to how often you get sick and how well you work," explains Sievert.

Those who are physically fit also work more efficiently at work. The young people are only at the beginning of their careers and are still clearly limited in their fitness. An unhealthy lifestyle "can lead to significant loss of performance at an early stage and before the onset of chronic diseases."

Therefore, Prof. Dr. Dr. Dieter Leyk and colleagues facing the far-reaching consequences for society as a whole. The unhealthy lifestyle and the associated decreasing resilience and performance of young people could lead to limited work. In many cases, this also results in reduced ability to work and increased sick leave. "It is all the more important to use the young adulthood as a preventive window to avoid the manifestation of chronic diseases and thus also negative societal / economic consequences," write the authors.

Movement higher factor than natural aging process
In a previous study, the researchers of the Sport University of Cologne had shown by their results that the lifestyle has a higher health factor than the biological age. So, if you do not move very much, eat unhealthily, and smoke on top of that, you will already see significant performance losses in middle age. In the course of a long-term study, the scientists evaluated the mileage of around 500,000 long-distance runners aged 20 to 80 years. It showed that about 25 percent of 60 to 70 year old athletes ran faster than 50 percent of 20 to 50 year olds. The older subjects were in better shape despite their age than the young people.

Sport ensures improved circulation in the brain
A Canadian study showed that regular sports training not only makes you physically fit, it also greatly stimulates brain cells. The recently published study revealed that the mental fitness of previously untrained individuals is relatively easy to restore if they undergo intensive interval training at least twice a week. After only 16 weeks, it became apparent that the condition of overweight participants increased massively. In the tests, the subjects performed significantly better in their cognitive performance than at the beginning of the training. "Sport evidently provides for improved blood supply to the brain," the researchers concluded at the end of the research.

Above all, middle-aged adults can use regular sports to slow down or even slow down age-related cognitive decline. In addition, sport in addition to a healthy diet can ensure that circulatory disorders of the brain is prevented, as they occur, for example, in cardiovascular diseases. According to the sports physician, 150 minutes of active exercise are optimal. However, those who only train for ten minutes every day can still significantly increase their health and quality of life and, on top of that, reduce the risk of strokes, heart attacks and diabetes. (Sb)

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Sports myths: Sport can also be unhealthy