ABSTRACT
Introduction ...........................................................................................................17 Physical activity versus exercise ........................................................................18 Determinants, barriers, and safety.....................................................................19 Conclusion .............................................................................................................21 References...............................................................................................................22
Although increasing life expectancy is hailed by some as one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century, a more common reaction is a doom-laden prediction of health and social budgets being bled dry by the burden of caring for dependent old people. This overwhelmingly negative reaction has been fuelled by a misunderstanding about health in old age. Of course, we need to consider how best to care for our growing older population, but this aspect has dominated debate to the near exclusion of the development of strategies with the potential to increase disability-free later life. Future health and social care needs will be determined not by the absolute numbers of older people, but by what proportion of this number are disabled and require care. Certainly, older people often have poorer health than younger people, due in part to the higher rates of disease in old age. The incidence of heart disease, for example, increases with increasing
