Overall adaptation of people shifting their behaviour from a fully sedentary to a slightly active lifestyle

During the last few years the scientific community has been interested in the effects of sedentary lifestyle, after having devoted major efforts in analyzing the effects of exercise upon human physiology and upon primary and/or secondary prevention of numerous major chronic diseases. It has become evident that there is urgent need to identify appropriate strategies to be implemented by individual governments, who have already promptly reacted to media and other socially relevant stimuli by launching specific campaigns meant at enhancing lifestyle changes. In fact, most working people over forty have been stimulated to take advantage of those campaigns and have become more active, while still too many people over sixty years of age follow sedentary habits. This sometimes depends on objective difficulties, however, often situations people are unable to cope with psychological barriers usually dating back years. We have recently been involved in bed rest studies, as part of a space-oriented research program funded by the Italian Space Agency, allowing us to evaluate metabolic changes during immobilization. The preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the first two weeks of bed rest are sufficient to deteriorate metabolism. On the basis of this data, as well as, previous data from other Authors, this derangement seems to be caused by a mixture of bad nutritional habits and decreased muscle mass and function. We also conducted additional studies on extremely inactive elderly people with diabetes, which is associated with relative sarcopenia. They underwent a four-month counseling program with a psychologist in order to reachi appropriate metabolic goals by slightly increasing leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) without exceeding the sedentary threshold of 10 METs/week. We found that the main metabolic parameters changed in both groups, but were better in those who increased their LTPA, who also improved their mood and prevented some decay in physical performance. On the basis of these observations, frailty appears to be the most relevant aspect of our aging society and needs to be addressed world-wide in order to improve the quality of life and prevent disability.