2017 Volume 33 Pages 19-27
Using ‘vital age’ as a measurement of physical fitness as well as physiological health status in exploring what kind of health benefits are brought about by rhythmic exercise in middle-aged and older women, the purpose of this study was to shed light on the difference in the level of physical fitness of women who routinely do rhythmic exercise by comparing the ‘vital age’ or the constituent elements of such of three groups of individuals: 1) those with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 or more (hereafter referred to as ‘the obese group’), 2) those with a BMI of less than 25 kg/m2 (hereafter ‘the regular group’), and 3) those who regularly do rhythmic exercises (hereafter ‘the dancer group’).
The ‘vital age’ - as a comprehensive measurement of health - was estimated using the various indicators ordinarily related to physiological health and fitness, namely stamina/endurance, agility, balance, blood pressure, lipid concentration in blood, abdominal girth, lung function. There were 24 subjects in the obese group (with an average age of 62.0±3.9 years), 28 subjects in the regular group (with an average age of 62.4±4.8 years) and 21 subjects in the dancer group (with an average age of 63.8±5.3 years). The vital age of the dancer group (54.5±7.4 years) was significantly better than those of the obese group (67.6±4.6 years) and the regular group (62.6±8.1 years) (P＜0.05). Thus various benefits brought about by dance-based physical activities for an extended period of time could be evident, and part of the mechanism was shown from the observation of energy metabolism and electromyograms during dancing.
