Physical activity programme reduces major disability in elderly people, study shows

Elderly people taking part in a structured physical activity programme were considerably less likely to experience impaired mobility than people who did not exercise regularly, a large study has shown.1

The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, followed up 1635 people aged 70-89 who were taking part in the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) programme at eight centres in the United States. At the start of the study all participants were sedentary but able to walk 400 m without help …