This year Senior Health and Fitness Day falls on May 31st. It’s a day that revolves around senior friendly physical activities. The focus is to help seniors understand how important exercise and nutrition are to health and how they help prevent illnesses.
A healthy diet can:
- Boost energy. At a time when metabolisms are slowing down and seniors have less energy, eating healthy and physical exercise are more important than they ever were. Physical activity doesn’t have to be strenuous to be good for you. Think leisurely walks in your neighborhood or yoga.
- Boost immunity. A diet filled with healthy food and lots of vegetables can help your immune system and keep you from illness and disease such as cancer.
What are the benefits of regular exercise for seniors?
- It helps to retain bone mass. As we age we are at risk of losing bone mass which may lead to fractures. Regular exercise will ensure that not only do we keep the healthy bones that we do have but it will also keep us flexible.
- Builds muscle strength. Daily exercise builds our muscles which lessens our chance of falls and also aids in balance.
Some choices of exercise seniors may like are walking and swimming. Anything that includes stretching such as yoga will increase flexibility and strength. All three are low impact and can be started slowly and for only short amounts of time.
National Senior Health and Fitness Day will include activities at more than 1,000 locations across the United States. It’s the largest annual health promotion event for older adults in the country. The theme this year is “With Movement…There’s Improvement!”
