The research group of Professor Fumi Takeda of the University of Tsukuba Physical Education used the data of 2005 respondents from the 2010 and 22,770 "longitudinal survey of middle-aged and elderly people" conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare nationwide, and used the data of middle-aged people (50-59). We analyzed the effects of leisure activities and social activities at the age of 5 years on daily life activities.
While Japan is a country with longevity, the healthy life expectancy of people who can spend their daily lives without any problems is about 10 years shorter than the average life expectancy.Therefore, effective health promotion measures for extending healthy life expectancy have become an issue.Until now, the fact that leisure activities such as hobbies / education and exercise / sports with people are effective in maintaining the mental health of middle-aged people before entering old age is the "longitudinal survey of middle-aged and elderly people" conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. There was no evidence of a preservative effect on physical function, as confirmed by a study of national data.Therefore, in this study, we also used the data from the "longitudinal survey of middle-aged and elderly people" to empirically examine what kind of leisure activities and social activities are effective for maintaining the physical function of middle-aged people.
As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that exercise / sports is effective for men and hobbies / education and exercise / sports are effective for women in maintaining the activities of daily living of middle-aged people.In addition, for both men and women, exercise / sports was not always effective when carried out alone, whereas it was found to be effective in maintaining activities of daily living only when carried out with a person.In other words, it was found that it is effective to carry out exercise and sports together with humans in order to maintain good physical function of middle-aged people.
Until now, research using data from the "longitudinal survey of middle-aged and elderly people" has shown that carrying out exercise and sports with people has an effect on maintaining mental health. It became clear that it is also effective for maintaining physical function, and as a measure to maintain both physical and mental health of middle-aged people before entering old age, in order to extend healthy life expectancy, together with colleagues at work and in the community It can be said that it is important to develop a program that allows easy practice of exercise and sports and to improve the environment.
