Geriatric Care - Care of the Aged

Encouraging sedentary adults to move just a little more every day could produce more widespread population health benefits than urging everyone to meet the current guideline of 150 minutes or more of moderate activity each week, say the authors of two new analyses. Although the 150-minute goal is still ideal , the authors say, it may be a barrier to the most sedentary and to some older people.  In fact, it may take far less than 150 minutes to achieve a significant reduction in mortality risk in sedentary people, they write in two articles published January 21 in the  BMJ . "Guidelines may be discouraging for fully sedentary people, who have reported feeling 'being pushed too hard,' especially as they get older," writes Philipe de Souto Barreto, PhD, a researcher at Gerontopole of Toulouse, University Hospital of Toulouse, France, in the first article. Writing in a separate analysis focused on older adults, Phillip B. Sparling, EdD, professor, School of Appl