A prática de exercícios físicos como medida de melhora na qualidade de vida da população idosa

Abstract

Aging is a natural process that occurs biologically in all individuals, gradually or stimulated from external events. With aging several changes in the body can be observed, such as loss of muscle mass, loss of balance, deficiency in nutritional and immunological aspects, and others. Despite these changes, the practice of physical activity prevents premature aging and improves the quality of life of already elderly individuals. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate in the literature the health conditions of physically active elderly people and to suggest alternatives to increase the number of physically active elderly people. A bibliographic survey was carried out with the theme "health level of elderly people who practice physical activity". The searches were conducted on the PubMed, Scielo, and Google Scholar platforms with the descriptors "elderly," "aging," "health," and "physical activity" in Portuguese and English. A time frame of 10 years (20211-2021) was defined. It was possible to observe that, in fact, the practice of physical exercise is significantly associated with the improvement of physical, emotional, social, and psychological conditions of the elderly, increasing their quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage the community so that the elderly begin to practice physical exercise and also maintain this habit throughout their lives, and the active participation of friends and family proved to be the most influential in maintaining the activity by the elderly individual.