豪雪地の女性高齢者における人力除雪作業の生理的応答

抄録

Two experiments were performed for the purpose (Experiment I)to elucidate physiological response to snow shoveling in elderly women and (Experiment II)to make clear exercise intensity of the daily physical activities including snow shoveling among elderly people living in heavy snowfall region. In experiment I, five healthy younger females(average age 19±0.4 years)and five older females(average age 68±2.7 years)engaged in measurements of cardio-respiratory responses and shoveling performance during 10 minutes of snow shoveling. Despite the fact that exercise intensity was 23 ml · kg^-1 · min^-1(6.6 Mets)in terms of oxygen uptake, the same value with younger group, elderly females attained higher shoveling performance(69±4.6 vs 41±7.0 kg · min^-1, p=0.008). In the measurements of experiment II, the heart rate (128 beats · min^-1) and oxygen uptake (4.2 Mets) in the elderly during snow shoveling were higher than those in home farming (104 beats · min^-1, 3.0 Mets), level walking (107 beats · min^-1, 3.6 Mets) and level walking on snow surface (112 beats · min^-1, 3.8 Mets). These results suggest that snow shoveling is demanding task for older women and that to keep desirable level of fitness is important for the residents in snowy regions.