No. 37 - One in three physically active

Over a third of Canadian seniors are physically active in their leisure time. In 1999 14% of all people aged 65 and over were considered to be very physically active in their leisure time pursuits, while 22% were moderately active. The majority of all seniors, though, participated only in physically inactive leisure-time activities.

Seniors are somewhat less likely than people in younger age ranges to be very physically active in their leisure time. In 1999, 14% of seniors were considered to be very physically active, whereas among younger age groups the figure ranged from 34% of those aged 15-24 to 18% for 55 64-year-olds.

Not surprisingly, younger seniors are slightly more likely than their older counterparts to take part in physically active leisure-time pursuits. In 1999, 18% of those aged 65-74 participated in very physically active leisure-time pastimes, compared with 10% of those aged 75-84 and just 6% of those aged 85 and over. As well, senior men tend to be more physically active than senior women in all age ranges.

Percentage of people physically active on a
regular basis, by age, 1999