Emily O’Neill is a PhD researcher at the University of Suffolk at its Institute of Health and Wellbeing and she also works with Active Suffolk, one of 43 partnerships across England dedicated to increasing the number of people taking part in sport.
More people are running or being active in mid to late life, she says.
Sport England data, external shows activity levels in the 55 to 74 age group are increasing, with more than 2.1 million in that age category more active compared to nine years ago.
Similarly in the 75+ category, there are 0.7 million more people active compared to nine years ago.
O’Neill says initiatives like Parkrun are also helping, with nearly half of the regular runners at the Ipswich Christchurch race aged 50 and over.
“I think this greater visibility of people active and engaged in mid to later life is really leading to a culture change around ageing and exercise and movement,” she adds.
There is better understanding of the benefits of exercise, O’Neill says, like improved cognitive health and lower dementia risks later in life.
Other data has shown many people citing the social aspect of joining clubs as a significant motivator which could be important for people in rural communities, she adds.
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