Life-Styles and Aging: The Hungarian Case
in Women in Sport and Physical Activity JournalClick name to view affiliation
This paper is an analysis of the presence and the consequences of ageism and sexism in contemporary sport relative to Hungarian women. The major purposes are: (1) to consider some theoretical concerns about research on physical activity in the later years; (2) to examine how the double disadvantage of being old and female influences life-styles in connection with sport; (3) to review research relative to how and why sport is or is not an integral part of life-style of the 50+ age group of women in Hungary; (4) to present results of research carried out recently in Hungary on elderly people’s sport participation and their judgments of their own physical activity. Findings from a variety of studies were discussed, including 1987 and 1997 studies of the Budapest older population. Interview and questionnaire techniques were used to collect data relative to participation and interpretation of sport and physical activity. According to the findings, of the 1997 study, only 19% of women over 70 reported their health as satisfactory, compared with 5.6 % of the men. Lasting diseases were more frequent among women than among men (42.3 % versus 34.1 %). 38.8 % of females and 27.8 % of males aged 70-74 years cannot walk a distance of 2 kilometers; 47.1 % of females and 31.8 % of males in the same age groups are not able to ascend 10 stairsteps without taking a rest. Approximately 5 % of males over 60 and approximately 4% of females over 55 were physically active. It appears to the great majority of Hungarian older women that they are losers of the recent system change: because of growing poverty their life-chances have been worsening, their opportunities for choosing the components of their life-styles-including physical activity have narrowed and social distances within and between the individual age cohorts have increased, including sport participation. There is a need for rethinking attitudes and for increasing awareness of how physical fitness could keep Hungarians in all ages healthier, more independent and more optimistic.
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