Have you ever seen an old-looking runner? U.S. study says No!

By William Atkins
Saturday, 16 August 2008 20:07

Science - Health

A Stanford University study shows that runners have fewer disabilities and live longer than non-runners. Aerobic exercise (such as running, swimming, walking, and bicycling) was found to be very important at reducing disabilities as we age and minimizing the risk of death at an early age.


Eliza F. Chakravarty, an assistant professor of medicine, Helen B. Hubert, Vijaya B. Lingala, and James F. Fries, an emeritus professor of medicine (all from the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, California. U.S.A.) performed the study involving the benefits of running with the better survival and lessened disability of older people.

The Stanford team studied 538 runners (from a national running group) and 423 non-runners (healthy adults from northern California), both groups were 50 years or older in 1984, over the course of more than twenty years.

The runners, on average, ran about four hours per week at the beginning of the study. That average declined to about 76 minutes at the end of the study (21 years later).

Annual self-administered questionnaires were given to members of both groups, asking them such questions as to their ability to perform normal daily activities such as walking, grooming, dressing, holding and gripping objects, and other similar activities.

They were also asked their frequency of running and exercising, numbers with respect to body mass index (BMI), and incidences of disabilities.

The data was assessed by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ, pdf file) Disability Index.

In all, 284 (out of 538) runners and 156 (out of 423) non-runners completed the 21-year study. The researchers used national death records (National Death Index) to record when and why each person within the study died.

Page two continues the information about the health benefits of running and other aerobic exercise as we age.