Abstract
Introduction: Physical activity is important for achieving healthy aging. Objective: To analyze changes in anthropometric parameters and physical fitness among Chilean older adults after participating in a 16-week physical activity program and to evaluate whether there were differences in relation to their baseline nutritional status or not. Materials and methods: Pre-experimental quantitative study. The study population consisted of 176 older adults (155 women and 21 men) distributed in three groups: normal weight (n=56), overweight (n=67) and obese (n=53). The following variables were evaluated: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHR) and physical fitness. Results: Significant decreases between pre- and post-measurements were found for WC (p<0.001), BMI (p=0.015), and WHR (p<0.001). Improvements were observed in the following tests: chair stand (p<0.001), arm curl (p<0.001), 2-min step (p<0.001), chair sit-&-reach (p=0.018) and back scratch (p=0.014). Regarding BMI, significant changes were observed between normal weight vs. overweight participants (p=0.001) and between normal weight vs. obese participants (p=0.001). Conclusion: Older adult participants that regularly attended the physical activity program were able to reduce their WC, BMI and WHR, and also improved their physical-functional performance on the chair stand, arm curl, 2-min step, chair sit-&-reach and back scratch tests. In addition, anthropometric parameters and physical fitness also improved regardless of their baseline nutritional status.
Highlights
Physical activity is important for achieving healthy aging
The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0 was used for all analyses
Significant decreases with a small effect size were observed in men, women and overall sample for waist circumference (WC) (p=0.022 in men; p
Summary
Physical activity is important for achieving healthy aging. Objective: To analyze changes in anthropometric parameters and physical fitness among Chilean older adults after participating in a 16-week physical activity program and to evaluate whether there were differences in relation to their baseline nutritional status or not. Conclusion: Older adult participants that regularly attended the physical activity program were able to reduce their WC, BMI and WHR, and improved their physical-functional performance on the chair stand, arm curl, 2-min step, chair sit-&-reach and back scratch tests. These governmental efforts are of great importance for the Chilean population, provided that, according to the most recent National Health Survey, 76.8% and 94% of the population over the age of 65 years are overweight and have sedentary lifestyles, respectively,[13] while only 15.8% are physically active.[14]
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