2016-01-27 00:02:11
According to Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease, the beneficial aspects of physical activity can be seen on people of all ages.
Children and young people
- Effects on aerobic fitness: factors determined aerobic fitness improve when a person get older. Even though, the forming process is already trainable by children or adolescent.
- Effects on muscle strength: children increase their muscle power by 14-30 percent through strength training with no heavy loads needed.
- Effects on cognitive function: children with cognition problem who receive extra motor training show improvement in subjects at school.
- Effects on mood and mental health: Physical activity promotes positive self-esteem and has influence on anxiety and depression.
- Effects on the skeleton: weight-bearing physical activity increase Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and skeleton girth which related to reducing risk of fracture in the future.
- Effects on obesity and risk factors for cardiovascular disease: young people with increased physical activity not only reduce weight better but also decrease their risk of cardiovascular diseases as an adult.
Pregnancy
- Preeclampsia/pregnancy toxaemia: regular physical activity with adequate intensity reduce the risk of preeclampsia.
- Gestational diabetes: further studies are needed to point out the relation between physical activity and gestational diabetes.
- Obesity: pregnant women with physical activity added in custom healthcare have less weight gain in a case-study.
- Back and/or pelvic pain: aquarobic and stabilizing exercise appear to relief back and pelvis pain during pregnancy.
- Urinary incontinence: several studies show “significant effect” of physical activity on preventing urinary incontinence.
Menopause
- Reduces the chance of getting vegetative symptoms (hot flushes and sweats) which lead to better mood; other menopausal symptoms also appear to be less common in active women.
- Regular physical activity prevents the potential harm of bone loss process that happens quickly after menopause. Recommended exercises are weight-bearing exercise, aerobics, strength training.
- Risks of cardiovascular diseases or developing cancer are reduced in menopausal women performing intensive exercise.
Elderly
- Cardiovascular function: light to moderate aerobic exercise can have the same improvement in compare with pharmaceutical treatment.
- Muscle function and strength training: As in younger people, strength training has a positive effect improving muscle power in the elderly, reaching 50-200 percent increase of muscle power.
- Balance, flexibility and walking ability: balance, flexibility, coordination training help improve mobility and prevent falling (major risk of fracture).
- Psychological function and quality of life: numbers of study show relation between physical activity and cognitive function, depression.