The Pandemic Has Made Many Seniors Less Active

A University of Michigan team surveyed about 2,000 American adults aged 50 to 80 in early 2021, asking about their activity levels.

It found that almost 40 percent of those over 65 reported both reduced physical activity and less daily time spent on their feet since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. In this representative national sample, those factors were associated with worsened physical conditioning and mobility.

“It’s a cascade of effects,” said Geoffrey Hoffman, a health-services researcher at the university’s School of Nursing and the lead author of the study. “You start with changes in activity levels. That results in worsened function. That in turn is associated with both falls and fear of falling.”

Health experts including U-M School of Nursing Assistant Professor, Geoffrey J. Hoffman, Ph.D., MPH discuss concerns that the pandemic, in upending daily routines, has reduced mobility and physical conditioning in older adults.

Read more from the New York Times.