An Intervention Study of a Health Promotion Program on the Physical, Mental and Dietetic Health Status of Middle-Aged and Elderly Women

Purpose: To examine the effect of a walking exercise-centered health promotion program for middle-aged and elderly women who participated in the program between April 1999 and February 2002, the participants\u27 pre- and after medical data were assessed and compared. Method: One hundred and fifty-four women living in Tokyo who attended the health promotion programs and completed the health status assessment were recruited as subjects of this study. (Their (n=103) average age, height, body mass and BMI were 55.6±7.9 yrs (40-65 yrs), 153.1±5.6cm, 53.9±7.1kg, and 23.0±3.3kg/m^2 (mean±SD), respectively.) One program lasted 6 months; participants met once a week for a 2-hour session in the afternoons, resulting in 15 sessions in total. Each session included both aerobic and anaerobic exercises, lectures on preventing lifestylerelated diseases together with arranged meal trials. Before and after the program, health status assessments were measured. The assessment consisted of general medical records, medical history, questionnaire regarding exercise and relaxation activities, details of dietary intake based on food records, eating behavior, complaints (CMI) and physical activity levels. Results: Upon completion of the program 1) Values of serum total cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased. Body mass and BMI values also decreased. 2) Total daily energy expenditures increased. 3) Major nutrient intakes, density of nutrients and eating behavior were improved. The daily salt intakes decreased. 4) Stress scores decreased, the subjects with higher scores at the beginning of the program markedly improved. Regarding CMI, there were improvements in categories II～IV. Participants with neurotic personality traits were mitigated. Conclusions: From the above results we concluded that the walking exercise-centered health promotion programs were effective in keeping desirable lifestyles in middle-aged and elderly women. These suggest that in order to maintain and/or improve the QOL of middle-aged and elderly women, good dietary habits and psychological support are essential. Further long-term investigations of a larger population (middle-aged to elderly) are necessary