Literature Review Relating to levels of Physical Actiity and Older Essay

Literature Review Relating to levels of Physical Actiity and Older People - Essay Example Physical activity levels in older people in rural areas are comparatively less when we consider the urban elder people because of social, economical and cultural factors. The older generation of UK in general and that of Ireland in particular are very much reluctant in doing physical activities to maintain their physical and mental health (See appendix for the statistics). The rural areas of Ireland are sparsely populated with no cities or major towns, which made the problem even worse. Moreover transportation services like the train services are less to the rural areas of Ireland which made this area less developed. People over the age of 55 (Older people) in this region are not engaging in physical activity levels as laid down by the Irish Government. This paper is written as a literature review concentrating mainly on the older generation of the Irish people especially in rural areas. Aim of this literature review is to prove that lack of infrastructure facilities, development and awareness forced rural Irish older people to stay away from physical workouts. In this paper, I have reviewed relevant journals/ articles mainly from UK, America and Australia to establish the need of physical activities for older people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), physical inactivity causes 2 million deaths a year worldwide and increases all causes of mortality (Medibank 2007, p.8). The advancements in science and technology and increasing living standards are the major reasons for the physical inactivity. For example, walking and cycling were the major means, people used to travel from one place to another earlier. But the arrival of new technology oriented industrialization, revolutionised the human life and people started to give up the traditional means of transportation, which once helped them to stay fit. Caspersen et al, (1985) defined physical