Healthy Longevity and physical activity

Healthy longevity refers to living a long life characterized by good physical and mental health as well as social well-being. Aging healthily enables individuals to lead active and fulfilling lives throughout their lifespan, staying involved in work, leisure, and social activities well past the typical retirement age. By living longer and healthier lives, people may be able to extend their working years and reduce the burden on health and long-term care systems. 

The share of people aged over 65 in the EU is expected to reach 29% by 2050 and this occurs by gains in life expectancy. Over the last two decades, approximately two-thirds of the additional years of life gained at age 60 or 65 have been spent in good health. Knowing how many of the additional years of life are spent in a healthy state (i.e. indicators of healthy life expectancy) is critical not only for assessing the growing demand for health and long-term care, but also for guiding decision-making on employment and retirement policies.  

Since 2010, the percentage of older people reporting bad or very bad health has decreased from 25% to 19% (2023). Despite this, a portion of the aged population still spends their retirement in chronic disease conditions.  

As we age, physical activity is a particularly important issue to consider among older adults. In fact, it is one of the most important activities that people can do to avoid or slow down the negative consequences of ageing. Physical activity reduces the risks of many chronic conditions and falls, promotes mental health, and reduces cognitive functioning decline.

According to the WHO, the guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior recommend at least 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week for older adults, in particularly emphasizes functional balance at least three days per week.  
Despite exercise is important for mitigating the negative effects of ageing, unfortunately only 22% of people aged over 65 meet the WHO recommendation. In fact, physical activity decreases with age and also its frequency decreases. 

Promoting healthy longevity is more important than ever as the proportion of people aged over 65 will continue to grow in the coming years and requires fostering environments and promoting lifestyles that help people to avoid becoming ill in the first place, and that provide access to people-centred and integrated care to people when they do get sick to restore their health and reduce the risk of complications.
Among them, it is important to promote physical activity programmes so that people are physically active at all ages, especially in old age. 

Source: 

Health at a Glance: Europe 2024