The select committee report argued that “increasing movement – especially among the least active – can prevent many of the leading causes of death, prevent the onset of frailty, dementia and disability and help narrow the unacceptable 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of the country”.
It added that “physical activity can be more effective than drugs in preventing, treating and managing many long-term conditions”.
The report also said the Care Quality Commission, which regulates NHS and social care services, should ensure that exercise programmes are being provided to residents in care homes.
Under current UK guidance, people should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity a week and do activities aimed at improving or maintaining muscle strength, balance and flexibility at least twice a week, under current UK guidance.
Figures suggest that 44 per cent of people aged 75 or older are doing less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per week.
Report ‘should be wake-up call’
Layla Moran, the chairman of the health select committee, said: “Staying physically active can help older people to live not just longer, but healthier, happier, more sociable lives.”
Caroline Abrahams, the charity director at Age UK, said the report should be “a wake-up call for us all about how being physically active can help us to age well”.
“We hope the report also jogs national and local policymakers into recognising that there is a lot more they can and should be doing to make it easier for older people to keep moving, as a natural part of their daily lives.”
Age UK research found that a lack of confidence and self-perception was holding many 50 to 65-year-olds back from group activities and team sports, while only 23 per cent of people more than 50 said that their GP had spoken to them about exercise.
Meanwhile, a study led by University College London, King’s College London and the University of Oxford found that the UK was experiencing a “generational health drift”, with younger people suffering poor health earlier than in previous generations.
The study, published in the journal Population Studies, said that for some health issues – particularly obesity, mental ill-health and diabetes – “prevalence of poor health was higher in more recent generations”.