EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MAINTENANCE ON CARDIOVASCULAR RISK IN A SEDENTARY ELDERLY RURAL COMMUNITY

Purpose: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity in elderly people. Physical activity (PA) plays a fundamental role in achieving healthy aging due to the ability to preserve functional independence and maintain a good quality of life in old age. Physical inactivity is greater problem in rural communities than in urban or suburban environments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of maintaining of exercise habits in the prevention of cardiovascular risk in sedentary elderly rural community. Methods: The sample consists of 27 subjects (21 females and 6 males) aged between 55 to 80 years (mean = 70 ± 6,7). All participants refer to an experimental project called ‘‘Ad un Passo dal Cuore’’ designed to promote PA among sedentary elderly people. PA include gentle exercises in the gym or outdoor (60 min/week), water gymnastics (60 min/week), Nordic Walking (90 min/week) and extra walk (60 min/month). Anthropometric parameters (stature, weight, waist and hip circumferences) were measured directly at baseline and after 3 months. Anthropometric indices—Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Hip Ratio (WHR), Waist to Height Ratio (WHtR), Body Adiposity Index (BAI) and Conicity Index (CI) – and the relationship between BMI and abdominal adiposity were calculated to provide information for CVD risk evaluation. Results: The main results show that at baseline (t0) the sample examined included 8 normalweight subjects (29.6%), 15 overweight subjects (55.5%) and 4 obese subjects (14.9%). After 3 months (t1), a significant weight loss was observed (t0 = 67.8 kg vs t1 = 67.3 kg; p = 0.0121) with a consequent decrease in BMI (t0 = 26.7 vs t1 = 26.5; p = 0.0122). The other parameters are unchanged. Health risk increases from normal- weight to higher BMI categories. In reference to NHLBI Obesity Education Initiative report, our results showed 9 overweigh subjects (33.3%) with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), 6 overweight subjects (22.2%) with high risk and 4 obese subjects (14.8%) with very high risk. Conclusions: Although 3 months is a limited time to observe variations in the parameters analyzed, the significant weight loss suggests that the maintenance of exercise habits can keep under control and improve the CVD risk in the sedentary elderly people. The improvement in weight and BMI values should encourage to continue following correct lifestyles as primary and secondary prevention for CVDs. The coordination of local institutions is important for the development of strategies aimed at promoting PA in rural environmental contexts.