The Attitude of the Elderly Persons Towards Health Related Physical Activities

Abstract The study concerns senior citizens from Romania that have retired, that have different social and professional history and who took part voluntarily to such investigation. This study looks at the fact the physical exercise represents the only way to preserve health and to slow the ageing process, but it is not used enough by the elderly. The goal of the study is to record findings regarding the tendency of elderly as far as physical activities. We start from the hypothesis that the elderly people in Romania are not involved in the practice of physical exercises, despite the fact that they are aware of the positive effects of the physical activity. The results show that the elderly are well aware of the positive effects of physical exercises, but they are not enough involved in such practice. The subjects are able to evaluate their health degree and to choose the necessary movement for different segments of the body, the women preferring their back area and the men their abdominal area. Most of the elderly people are used to moving and walking for an average of 20-40 minutes. A small number of elderly do physical exercises independently and the most frequent movements target the muscular-joint mobility. The aged people know well the positive effects of the physical activity for health, but they are not involved enough in such practice.