OLDER ADULT DOG OWNERS ARE MORE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE THAN THEIR NON-DOG-OWNING COUNTERPARTS

Abstract

The study examined the influence of dog ownership on physical activity (PA) in community dwelling older adults using a longitudinal design and an objective measure of PA (activPAL monitor). Eighty six participants (aged 65–81 years) were matched on gender, age, and socio-economic status into dog owner (DO) and non-dog owner (NDO) pairs. Each participant wore a waterproofed activPAL activity monitor continuously for a week, three times over a year. The results revealed that DOs walked significantly longer at a moderate cadence (31vs.11 min/day) and took more steps (9,700 vs.7,200 steps/day) than NDOs. DOs also sat for significantly less time overall (9.4 vs. 10.1 hours/day) than NDOs. This study provides the first objective data demonstrating that older DOs walk more than NDOs and indicates that this walking was undertaken at a moderate cadence. On average DOs met recommended public health guidelines (30 min/day of moderate PA), but NDOs did not.