Aptidão Física e Saude:Um Estudo com idosos participantes de um programa de atividade Física

Abstract

The aging of the population is a worldwide event that has been growing exponentially. There are numerous changes linked to the aging process, among them the inherent limitations of life, loss of muscle mass and bone density, the increase of non-transmissible chronic diseases, and the decrease in cognitive capacity. The transformations, in the psychological and social dimensions, may be related to the decline of physical fitness components. In the perspective of understanding this aging process, the aim of this study is to describe the health-related physical fitness of elderly people who practice physical activity. This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, conducted with 276 elderly participants of the Program Idoso Feliz Participa Sempre - PIFPS, at the Federal University of Amazonas - UFAM. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21.0, through descriptive statistics to present the relative and absolute frequencies. Of the 276 elderly participants in the survey, most are female (83%), brown (70.7%) and residents of Manaus (96%). An interesting fact is that more than half of the participants do not have a partner (57.8%) and 83% live with relatives. The median age is 68 years.The study concludes that profiles of physical fitness classified as VERY BAD, BAD or REGULAR, were more likely to return diseases linked to sedentary lifestyle, especially musculoskeletal diseases and cardiovascular diseases, besides being more limited in daily activities.