Old Age has been cancelled!
So says Juul Lassen from the University of Copenhagen following his research on healthy and active ageing. Apparently activities for older people were once limited to activities such as playing cards – although a nice sociable activity, playing whist or poker didn’t really lend to increasing fitness or aiding healthy living.
If you remember, we have often mentioned how regular exercise on a ‘little but often’ premise is recommended for older people – getting out for a short walk twice a day, gentle exercise via gardening or housework also works well. However, Lassen’s research has shown that an activity such as billiards is perfect for older people. Billiards is a sociable game, similar to pool or snooker but a billiard game can go on for as long as five hours. However, players aren’t playing constantly for the duration, they can sit down and get up, they take turns, there are periods of passivity and periods of activity which is perfect for active ageing. The fact that people are playing with others in their local community ensures that they are socially active too.
As Lassen states, because those playing billiards sometimes drink alcohol while playing, he wasn’t sure if the WHO would classify it as a healthy ageing activity but based on his research of 10 men aged between 75-95 who play billiards four times a week, he felt the activity was improving their health and giving them a wonderful quality of life.
What do you think is the best sport for older people? What is your favourite?
photo credit: Derbeth via photopincc
