Despite the significant increase in years that an individual can now expect to live in the 21st century, there is growing evidence that the price for greater longevity may be worsening health due to the higher prevalence of nonfatal but disabling conditions. This sobering news suggests the need for expanded scientific inquiry directed at understanding the multilevel factors that promote or prevent physical activity (PA) participation and the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors and the types of intervention strategies that will be most effective in positively changing behavior at different life stages. Fruitful areas of future scientific inquiry include exploring other types and intensities of PA aimed at increasing PA participation while reducing sedentary behavior, better understanding the role of the physical and social environment in promoting PA participation, and designing and evaluating multilevel PA interventions that are better tailored to the activity preferences, goals, and expectations of a diverse older adult population, and flexibly delivered in real-world settings. Finally, conducting research aimed at better differentiating normal age-associated changes from those that are disease-related will be fundamental to reversing the negative stereotypes that currently shape the public’s view of the aging process.
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The Future of Aging Research: Should the Focus Be On Not Growing Old or Growing Old Better?
Debra J. Rose
Eternally Wounded Women? Feminist Perspectives on Physical Activity and Aging or a Woman’s P(l)ace in the Marathon of Life
Patricia Vertinsky
Elderly athletes running the marathon offer a barometer of what is possible in physical aging. Gender, however, has a strong influence on one’s chances in the marathon race, just as it has on the manner and pace with which one navigates the marathon of life. This article looks at the obstacles that women, especially older women, have had to overcome in order to compete in the marathon race. It explores the ways that gender has limited their real and perceived opportunities in pursuing strenuous sports and shows how male–female dichotomies have been used historically to perpetuate patriarchal views on the ways women could and should use their bodies. Finally, it illustrates how feminist inquiry and methods of analysis can help us understand why aging women in the past have more often been seen as “eternally wounded” than as special candidates for sporting excellence in later life.
Erratum. Effects of Dancing Associated With Resistance Training on Functional Parameters and Quality of Life of Aging Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity
parameters and quality of life of aging women: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2023-0010 Author Josianne da Costa Rodrigues-Krause’s name was misspelled. The article was corrected August, 2, 2023. The authors
Erratum. Effects of Dancing Associated With Resistance Training on Functional Parameters and Quality of Life of Aging Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity
aging women: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity , 31 (6), 995–1002. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2023-0010 In the error note at the top of the first page, the DOI in the hyperlink to the first erratum for this article was formatted incorrectly. It was printed as 10
Wrist-Worn Accelerometry, Aging, and Gait Speed in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Amal A. Wanigatunga, Fangyu Liu, Jacek K. Urbanek, Hang Wang, Junrui Di, Vadim Zipunnikov, Yurun Cai, Ryan J. Dougherty, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Luigi Ferrucci, and Jennifer A. Schrack
Physical activity declines with age ( Hallal et al., 2012 ), tending to accelerate in later life ( Buchman et al., 2014 ). Traditionally, self-report questionnaires captured these declines by assessing participation in moderate-to-vigorous intensity activities (e.g., exercise; Keadle et al., 2016
How Older Adults Are Perceived Is Influenced by Their Reported Exercise Status
Iain A. Greenlees, Ben Hall, Andrew Manley, and Richard C. Thelwell
Nelson (2002) proposed that ageism occurs as a result of the negative perceptions individuals have of older adults. This study examined whether information about an older person’s exercise habits would influence such perceptions. Participants (N = 1,230) from 3 age categories (16–25, 26–55, and 56+ yr) read a description of a 65-year-old man or woman describing 1 of 7 exercise statuses. Participants rated their perceptions of 13 aspects of the target’s personality. A 3-way (Target Exercise Status × Target Gender × Participant Age) MANOVA revealed significant main effects for target exercise status. Nonexercisers were perceived less positively than the control target and the exercising targets. The results suggest that there are self-presentational costs associated with being a nonexerciser at an older age, but few self-presentation benefits accrued to older adults who engage in regular exercise.
The Relationship Between Usual Daily Physical Activity With Serum Markers Related to Bone Metabolism and Demographic Characteristics in Postmenopausal Women Aged 50–65 Years
Saeedollah Azimi-Shomali, Azizeh Farshbaf-Khalili, Fariba Eslamian, Neda Dolatkhah, and Nafiseh Ghassab-Abdollahi
contributes to bone health as an essential determinant with low cost, widespread availability, and high acceptance. 12 PA promotes bone health and reduces bone aging during lifespan by positively affecting inflammatory mechanisms such as triggering a metabolic response and stimulation of the Wnt signaling
Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Association Between Gait Speed, Ankle Proprioception, and LE Numbness—Results From the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Seung-uk Ko, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Gerald J. Jerome, Elango Palchamy, and Luigi Ferrucci
Functional deterioration of gait related to normal aging is evident in older adults ( Ko et al., 2012 ; Sloot et al., 2021 ). Because components of gait function have gradient declines, the mechanisms underlying the gait performance declines associated with normal aging are not yet fully
Physical Activity Interventions for Adults Aged 60+ Years in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review
Gabriela Cuadra, Juliana S. Oliveira, Marina B. Pinheiro, Anne Tiedemann, Catherine Sherrington, Luiza Pivotto, Saman Khalatbari-Soltani, Sweekriti Sharma, and Nathalia Costa
Global population aging is rapid, with a projected number of people aged 60 years and older up to 1.5 billion by 2050. 1 Estimations indicate that this increase will occur more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which will be home to more than 80% of older people by 2050. 2 Of
