CC BY
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Section 10. Sociology
Chernyshkova Elena Vyacheslavovna, Saratov State Medical University n. a. V. I. Razumovsky, head of foreign languages department Rodionova Tatyana Vyacheslavovna, senior lecturer of foreign languages department Mukhina Marina Yurievna, senior lecturer of foreign languages department E-mail: marina_muhina@mail.ru Veretelnikova Yulia Yakovlevna, senior lecturer of foreign languages department Chernyshkov Danila Vsevolodovich, lecturer of physical training department
Elderly age: healthy life style and life activity prolongation
Abstract: The article presents the analysis of the results of elderly people’s (aged 55-65) questionnaires concerning the basic precepts of healthy life style for activity prolongation (N = 180). It has been established that the basic principles of healthy life style include regular moderate physical loads, a rational diet, giving up bad habits. Healthy life style popularization may become a promising measure to increase activity motivation of elderly people.
Keywords: elderly age, healthy life style, activity prolongation.
Demographic changes are characterized by significant ageing of the population in Russia, thus attracting scientific interest to the problems concerning prolongation of elderly people’s activity for their full-valued social integration. Contemporary pace of society development demands that elderly people shift their life style precepts towards active participation in all spheres of social life, this fact determining the necessity of healthy life style.
The materials for healthy life style basic precepts’ analysis in elderly people’s activity prolongation were the data of a sociological research by questioning, performed in Saratov region during the period of 2014-2015. The characteristics of the random sampling were as follows: the total number of the questioned was 180 people; the age scope was 55-65 years; gender distribution of the respondents was 50 % of females and 50 % of males.
Since ancient times various societies demonstrated a rather stable stereotype of the elderly age as the period of human life associated with illnesses, helplessness and social uselessness. However, yet in the works of ancient philosophers there could be found controversial opinions concerning the fact that worsening of health and revolutionary changes in an elderly person’s organism might be compensated by life experience, insight and sense of internal personal freedom, while moderate physical activity was believed to be an excellent prophylaxis of inevitable age changes in the human organism [1; 2].
The development of medical knowledge and technologies served to be the basis for ageing process over-comprehension. The first scientifically substantiated ideas about activity prolongation in the later life period appeared in the XVIII century. The most common precepts for health maintenance were the principles of general hygiene and moderate life style [3; 4]. Significant attention was paid to physical activity within the individual’s power, to a rational diet, temperance from alcohol and tobacco smoking.
According to the results of the research, the above mentioned healthy life style precepts not still remain timely but they are the basic ones for activity prolongation in the elderly age. Most of the respondents (75 %) consider giving up bad habits (use of alcohol and tobacco smoking) to be the basic condition of healthy life style maintenance. 57 % of the questioned believe that moderate physical loads and fitness are the main factors of healthy life style maintenance. 22.5 % of the questioned determine a rational diet and following diets to be the basic healthy life style precept.
Advantages of physical exercises and fitness are well known and proved. For elderly people it is particularly important to understand the role of mild and moderate physical loads in prevention of age physiological changes of the organism commonly associated with the activity level decrease due to life style changes. It has been proved that regular physical loads may positively influence the increase of an average life-span, they also help elderly
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people to maintain functional independence, improve the life quality [5; 6]. Besides, adequate physical loads contribute to prevention of cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression. There are the data about morbidity decrease of intestinal cancer, stroke, vertebral column pathology. Physical exercises appear to be the main principle of weight-reducing programs [9].
Distribution of the answers, concerning the most personally acceptable type of physical loads for each respondent, has revealed the following preferences: walking (43 %); daily physical exercises at home (33.5 %); climbing the stairs (11 %); running (6 %); swimming (4 %); training in fitness centers (2.5 %). Physical loads must become habitual but they should not be excessive. Elderly people doing moderate physical exercises, such as walking for 30 minutes every day, can significantly improve their health condition.
It should be pointed out that most of the respondents (63 %) have demonstrated a great interest to fitness programs adapted for elderly people, since these training programs are conducted under control of specialists. However, only a small number of elderly people can afford this opportunity because of financial problems.
In the context of elderly people’s activity prolongation, healthy life style maintenance is a personal initiative since contemporary health protection does not provide activity prolongation of the elderly people in 67.5 %; provides practically in 17.0 %; provides on the whole in 15.5 % of cases. Negative evaluation of the health care bodies’ functioning may be explained from the viewpoint of deep-seated social stereotypes considering elderly people as social ballast. The promising effort aimed to reconsider this viewpoint is adoption of national programs of “active ageing”.
Besides, one of the results of still greater involvement of the elderly people into the sphere of medical services is ageing medicalization. Really, the objective reason for medical sphere enlargement is the fact that elderly people become ill more frequently and they require a greater amount of medical control and intervention,
i. e. medicalization, within reasonable limits, is a useful phenomenon. However, the stereotypical correlation: “elderly” means “sick”, leads to incompatibility of these notions with the notion “activity” [7; 8].
Another significant precept of healthy life style is a rational diet balanced in accordance to the age and individual peculiarities of the organism. The choice of low-calorie diets with a small amount of salts is important for prevention of many diseases, including cardio-vascular disorders, diabetes, obesity, gastro-intestinal diseases.
These diets also play a prophylactic role in the development of malignant neoplasms.
Most positive answers (69.4 %) verify the fact that the respondents are well informed about the differences in dietary peculiarities of elderly and younger generations. However, realization of approved dietary patterns for elderly people appears to be complicated because of financial difficulties in this population group: 43.7 % of the questioned people can afford rational balanced diets; 56.3 % of the respondents state that their financial situation does not completely afford them to follow the dietary rules.
According to the questionnaires’ data, elderly people are poorly informed about medically approved dietary recommendations — 44 % of the positive answers. The major information reaches elderly people through: television and mass media advertising — in 18.3 %; personal experience of colleagues, relatives and acquaintances — in 14.8 %; advices of chemist’s pharmacists — in 6.5 %; consultations ofmedical specialists — in 5 %; through Internet — in 1.4 % of cases.
Another problem associated with dietary pattern misbalance in the elderly age is obesity. However, a significant part of the questioned people associate their body weight increase entirely with the organism’s ageing process consequences (42.9 %); with the lack of financial means to follow rational dietary rules (24.5 %); with consequences of chronic diseases (20.4 %); with consequences of hypodynamic life style (12.2 %).
Healthy life style maintenance is impossible without giving up bad habits. So, most respondents (75 %) believe that giving up alcohol and smoking is the basic precept for healthy life style; 16.8 % of the questioned people consider significantly reduced alcohol use and tobacco smoking to be of great importance. Many causes leading to elderly people’s death may be prevented, life style being one of the methods. Alcohol, for instance, is the main factor of a great variety of accidents, such as automobile crashes, heart attacks, violence and suicides.
The results of the conducted questioning have revealed that activity prolongation in the elderly age is really possible providing the basic healthy life style principles are followed. These principles include moderate physical loads (exercises), a rational diet, giving up bad habits. However, realization of these precepts often meets a number of barriers, the main barriers being elderly population’s poor awareness about medically approved recommendations on physical activity and diet in accordance with the organism’s age and individual peculiarities, as well as the lack of financial resources.
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Thus, popularization of healthy life style in the el- overestimate life values and to properly include repre-
derly age may be considered as a promising measure sentatives of the elderly age group into contemporary
to raise interest and motivation for active life style, to social life.
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