Being physically active is vital to maintaining health and independence as we age, and a new federal campaign for people 50 and older will help them to get active and keep going. Introduced today by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Go4Life campaign encourages sedentary older adults to reap health benefits by making physical activity part of their daily lives. Only about 30 percent of people aged 45–64 say they engage in regular leisure-time physical activity, while only a quarter of those ages 65–74 and only 11 percent of people age 85 and older say they do.

The campaign was conceived, and is being led, by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the component of NIH devoted to research on aging. The NIA will work with the Go4Life community on events and will highlight participating organizations and their activities on the campaign website.

“If we want to become a healthy and fit nation, we need to increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life,” said U.S. Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A. “Go4Life provides older adults with the tools and resources to get moving and keep moving. With the release of the National Prevention Strategy, we are moving our health care system from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on wellness and prevention.”

The Go4Life interactive website has great information on how to get started today with your physical activity program and resources for family, friends, organizations and health professions. The materials are also available in Spanish.

DSWFitness, Center for Continuing Education, will be supporting the Go4Life initiatives as we continue to prepare fitness professionals to meet the needs of older adults and those with disease-specific conditions with our two 40-hour certificate programs for fitness professionals:
Physical Activity Instruction for Older Adults
Physical Activity Instruction for Disease-Specific Conditions

Get involved today and stay active 4Life!