April/May 2005
Previous
Newsletters
From
the Active for Life Program Office
Upcoming
Events
Tips,
Tactics and Tools
In
the News
Funding
Opportunities
From the Active for Life®
National Program Office
Active for Life NPO Team “Walks
Across Texas”
Walk Across Texas is a statewide initiative
to establish physical activity habits. Participants assemble
teams of eight people and, over eight weeks, walk or run
a collective 830 miles – the distance across Texas.
The Active for Life NPO staff surpassed this goal in less
than 6 weeks and is still going! By week 8, the team hopes
to reach the Arizona border, logging a total of 1250 miles.
Majority of middle age and older
adults know diet & exercise are part of healthy life
but majority lack skills
The good news is a recent telephone
survey of the American Public Health Association found that
78% of America’s age 55 and older population understand
that diet and exercise is important to maintaining good
health. The bad news is that despite this knowledge almost
64% of adults age 65 and older do not meet the Surgeon General’s
recommendations for 30 minutes of moderate physical activity
most days of the week.
“What this means,” says
Marcia G. Ory, Ph.D., director of the Active for Life®
National Program Office at The Texas A&M University
System Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health,
“is that about two-thirds of older Americans are not
getting enough physical activity and are putting themselves
at increased risk of chronic illness, disability, and loss
of independence because they are sedentary.” To view
the complete news release visit http://www.activeforlife.info//newsroom/files/older_amer_month_lack_skills.pdf
May is Older Americans Month
May is Older American’s Month.
The theme for 2005 is “Celebrate Long Term Living.”
For materials, including posters, logos, and census bureau
news go to the Administration of Aging Web site at http://www.aoa.gov/press/oam/oam.html
Upcoming
Events
May is National Physical Fitness
and Sports Month
Since 1983, the nation has observed National Physical Fitness
and Sports Month each May. The observance provides an opportunity
to draw attention to physical activity as an integral part
of a healthy and productive life and to celebrate participation
in all physical activities.
Active for Life encourages you to bring this message to
your family, workplace, organization, and community: commit
now to a program of regular physical activity. For more
information see http://www.fitness.gov/may_month_2005/maymonth-intropage.htm
June 1-4, 2005: The American
College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting will take place
in Nashville, TN. The program includes research presentations,
current issues, tutorials, clinical lectures and clinical
workshops. http://www.acsm.org/meetings/annualmeeting.htm.
June 3-18, 2005: 2005 Senior
Olympics. Pittsburg, PA. For more information, go to http://www.nsga.com.
June 13-19, 2005: National
Men’s Health Week. http://www.menshealthweek.org
Tips,
Tactics and Tools
Looking for Effective Ways to Communicate
with Elected Officials?
Visit http://www.advocacyguru.com
to find a wealth of information including tip sheets on
communications and advocacy topics, speeches by "advocacy
guru" Stephanie Vance, and online courses such as Communication
101: How to Communicate Effectively with Congress. The site
also provides frequently asked questions and free articles
available to reprint.
Be BoneWise™ - Exercise
Video Available
The National Osteoporosis Foundation’s
official weight-bearing and strength-training exercise video
entitled Be BoneWise™- Exercise can help people suffering
from osteoporosis take smart steps toward better bones,
health, flexibility and balance. This routine is unique
in that it avoids movements that are unsafe for people with
osteoporosis such as twisting or jarring the spine or bending
forward from the waist. For more information or to order
the video, follow
this link.
Growing Stronger - Strength Training
for Older Adults
A strength-training program developed by experts at
Tufts University and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Growing Stronger is an excellent resource for
exploring the benefits of resistance training.
Growing Stronger is an exercise program
based on sound scientific research involving strengthening
exercises that have been shown to increase muscle and bone
strength and improve coordination and balance. The program
addresses motivation, preparation, intensity and progression.
For a complete look at this comprehensive
program visit http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/growing_stronger/index.htm
Flexibility Has Gone to the Dogs
Most dog and cat owners have noticed
their pet stretching after lying around for extended periods
of time. Aside from feeling good, stretching can combat
the loss of flexibility in older adults which is a result
of loss of elasticity in the muscles and thickening of tissues
around the joints.
But unlike our furry friends, we're
not as likely to get up and stretch our bodies after long
bouts of inactivity. From sitting at a desk in the workplace
to everyday chores like paying bills, much of our day involves
some form of inactivity. Stretching can assist in making
muscles more flexible, increase mobility, and reduce tightness
throughout the body. Increased flexibility can also assist
in preventing falls, relieving chronic pain, reducing tension
and stress and improving circulation and concentration.
For more information on stretching visit http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/work_out/Articles/a2004-05-12-stretch.html
DHHS Offers Small Steps Bracelet
Whether it's preventing cancer, heart
disease, diabetes, or obesity, healthy lifestyles begin
with small steps. The Small Steps bracelet (free of charge),
from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in
partnership with the Advertising Council, reminds all of
us that healthy lifestyles begin one step at a time. Let
your program participants know about this offer, and encourage
them to commit to small steps. For more information log
on to http://www.smallstep.gov/giveaway/index.cfm.
In
the News
Living Longer - But Are We Living
Stronger?
The good news is that public health
advancements and new treatment options are enabling Americans
to live longer but the bad news may be that they aren’t
necessarily living stronger.
Unfortunately, 80% of mature adults
suffer from at least one chronic condition and the average
75 year-old has three chronic conditions and uses five prescription
drugs. These chronic conditions account for almost 95% of
health care expenditures among mature adults. For more information,
go to http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/501877
Health and Safety Leaders Launch Coalition to Address
the Risk of Fall Related Injuries for Older Adults
Top health and safety organizations
including the National Council on the Aging, the Home Safety
Council, the National Safety Council and the Archstone Foundation
announced the formation of the Falls Free Coalition to address
the growing problem of falls and fall-related injuries among
older adults. More than one-third of adults 65 years and
older fall each year and among those who fall, 20 to 30%
suffer moderate to severe injuries that reduce mobility
and independence, and increase the risk of premature death.
The coalition, consisting of more
than 55 organizations, represents a collaborative approach
to promoting a national falls prevention action plan. Experts
and stakeholders first gathered at a summit in December
to produce the groundbreaking new initiative entitled Falls
Free: Promoting a National Falls Prevention Action Plan.
For more information visit http://www.nsc.org/news/nr033105_b.htm
Older Americans are Transforming
Landscape of Physical Fitness
It languished for about a decade,
but now the American fitness phenomenon is coming to life
again, resuscitated by the least likely demographics --
"older" participants. From 1998 - 2004, the number
of frequent fitness participants age 55+ zoomed by 33%,
compared with a growth rate of 13% for age 35-54, and zero
growth for the "traditional" fitness participant
age 18-34. These were among the findings of the 18th Annual
SUPERSTUDY® of Sports Participation, conducted among
14,684 Americans nationwide in January 2005 by American
Sports Data, Inc. (ASD).
Some 25% of the nation's 41.3 million health club members
are now over 55, the quintessential statistic that, according
to ASD president Harvey Lauer, "represents not only
a vast change in American attitudes and perceptions, but
also an imminent restructuring of the health club and fitness
industries, and most crucially -- the seed of monumental
healthcare reform in the United States.”
Physicians and Active Aging Organization
Partner to Encourage More Activity
Second only to tobacco, obesity and
physical inactivity are responsible for the most deaths
in the United States annually, according to a report by
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, CDC and many others have called
for doctors to prescribe exercise to reduce the death and
disease associated with these preventable causes. Now the
American Academy of Family Physicians and the International
Council on Active Aging are taking action on this issue.
Through their partnership, these organizations strive to
boost physical activity among adults ages 50 and older.
For more information, visit http://www.icaa.cc/Press2005/aafp.htm.
Obesity and Older Adults
Rates of obesity for older adults
aged 65+ increased from 12% in 1990 to 19% in 2002, according
to the American Obesity Association. Some 64.5% of American
adults (about 127 million) are categorized as being overweight
or obese.
According to the CDC, obesity causes
at least 112,000 excess deaths in the U.S. each year and
healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount
to nearly $117 billion. A report from the AARP, Beyond 50.02:
A Report to the Nation on Trends in Health Security, found
that a much larger portion of the age 50 and older population
is obese than in previous years. The study looked at several
health factors including smoking, cancer screenings, and
blood pressure checks. According to the study, although
older people are taking more preventive measures, the effects
of obesity could cancel out these gains.
Older Women’s Health
One of the most profound trends driving
the programs and initiatives of the Office on Women’s
Health (OWH) within the Department of Health and Human Services
is the graying of the Baby Boom generation. By the year
2030, one in four American women will be older than the
age of 65. In light of this trend, the OWH is targeting
its programs and activities to the entire lifespan of a
women’s life. For more information log on to http://www.4woman.gov
NCOA Develops Toolkit for Physicians
National Council on the Aging and
the Merck Institute on Aging and Health have developed a
toolkit to help educate physicians about the services provided
by community-based organizations. Since primary care physicians
rarely have the resources to assist older adults with self-management
of chronic illnesses, they need to partner with organizations
that support good chronic care, such as senior centers,
day service centers, social service organizations, housing
programs, and faith-based organizations. Some of the services
that these organizations provide include physical activity
classes, support groups, in-home services, and case management.
The toolkit, called MD Link, is available at http://www.ncoa.org/attachments/MDToolkit.pdf
Exercise May Lower Diastolic,
But Not Systolic, Blood Pressure in Older Patients
A randomized trial study funded by
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that six months
of aerobic and resistance training lowers diastolic, but
not systolic, blood pressure in older patients with mild
hypertension. The study, published in the April 11, 2005
issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, revealed that
the benefit seemed to be related to changes in body composition
rather than in fitness. To see the study, go to http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/502892.
Funding
Opportunities
The Women’s Sports Foundation
will be administering the RYKÄA Women’s Fitness
Grant to provide financial assistance to fitness programs
that: 1) empower and enhance the self-esteem of women aged
25 and older, 2) combine fitness activities and health education
and/or 3) serve women recovering from health and/or emotional
challenges.
All proposals must demonstrate the
grantee will conduct education programs, produce educational
materials, provide fitness participation opportunities or
provide other services that increase women's participation
in fitness activities.
For more information concerning this
grant visit http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/cgi-bin/iowa/funding/featured.html?record=31
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