Repercussions of a very active life style in body composition and cardiometabolic parameters of the elderly in a sample of the population of the mid region of the city of recife/Brazil

Aging is accompanied by changes in body composition and cardio metabolic parameters, which indicate the onset of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular, coronary and metabolic diseases. The prevention of these diseases in the elderly may depend on changes in risk factors related to life style, with physical activities as one of the most important components for a healthy life style. Objectives To assess the impact of a very active life style in body composition and cardio metabolic parameters in a sample of the elderly population in the city of Recife. Methodology A cross-sectional study conducted with the elderly (age ≥ 60 years) that were allocated into two groups of sedentary life style, and very active, according to the variable "physical exercise" of the table of coronary risk (CR) of the Michigan Heart Association, which considers the recreational and occupational effort played by the individual. The variables related to body composition were body weight, body fat percentage (%F), lean body mass, fat mass and body mass index (BMI). The cardio metabolic parameters were obtained from the CR, blood pressure and casual blood glucose. The independent T test and Fishers exact test were used, considering P < 0.05. Results The sample consisted of 363 elderly people (156 men and 207 women), 61 being very active and 302 sedentary. A significant part of the very active elderly (p = 0.001) was between 60 and 69 years (n = 41 - 69%), and none of the elderly aged ≥ 80 years (n = 21) was categorized as very active. The very active elderly presented body mass (p = 0.01), %F (p = 0.005), fat mass (p = 0.0007), BMI (p = 0.005), casual blood glucose levels (p = 0.003) and CR (p < 0.0001) significantly lower than the sedentary elderly. Conclusion The elderly with very active life style have body composition and cardio metabolic parameters better than the sedentary elderly of the sample.