Study On The Impact Of Sleep And Physical Activity On The Health Of Older Adults

With the deepening of population aging,the level of health decline among the elderly has increased dramatically.The health issues brought about by rapid population aging have become a major challenge for Chinese society in the 21 st century.Achieving healthy aging,constantly improving the health level of older people,and enhancing the quality of life in the elderly period undoubtedly require a more holistic,targeted,and innovative approach.Numerous studies have shown that a healthy lifestyle can effectively improve the health of older people.However,factors such as insufficient physical activity and poor sleep quality continuously undermine the health of the elderly,resulting in a decrease in their quality of life.Additionally,in the context of advancing smart elderly care,there is a greater demand for refined health management services,which necessitates a deeper understanding of the relationship between sleep,physical activity,and health.Therefore,starting from the requirements of promoting healthy aging and facilitating high-quality development of the elderly care industry,it is necessary to analyze and identify the impact of lifestyle factors,represented by sleep and physical activity,on the health of older people.This will enable the proposal of more reasonable health behavioral intervention strategies from multiple objectives and dimensions,helping to alleviate the disease burden caused by insufficient physical activity and sleep disorders,and providing reference for the formulation and improvement of policies related to health promotion.In order to promote high-quality development of the elderly care industry,domestic and foreign scholars have conducted extensive research on the sleep,physical activity,and health of older people.However,most of the relevant studies are limited to the medical field,focusing on specific small samples,and have certain limitations in overall application.Moreover,the research on the relationship between sleep,physical activity,and health in older people mainly focuses on the analysis of the relationship between two of these factors,while the interdependence among the three factors is essential in both medical and sociological fields.Therefore,this study utilizes data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)from 2011 to2018 to examine the relationship between sleep,physical activity,and health in older people from multidisciplinary perspectives including sociology,medicine,and sports science.On the one hand,the application of large-scale data allows for an accurate understanding of the regular changes in the survival patterns of older people,and stable dynamic information is more representative and generalizable.On the other hand,by exploring the relationship among the three factors from an interdisciplinary perspective,a comprehensive interpretation of the elderly’s health status can be achieved,facilitating the formulation of more diverse and refined health intervention measures for older people.Firstly,through the analysis of dynamic changes in the sleep,physical activity,and health of older people using multi-period data,it is found that there are differences in sleep conditions,levels of physical activity,and health levels among the elderly in terms of urban-rural areas,age,and gender.Firstly,in terms of sleep duration,it is generally observed that older people in China suffer from insufficient sleep.Urban older people have better sleep conditions compared to rural older people,and the proportion of excessive sleep in elderly females is significantly lower than that in elderly males during the same period.The proportion of older people with insufficient sleep is the largest among all age groups and shows a trend of decreasing age.Secondly,in terms of the level of physical activity participation,rural older people have significantly higher levels of physical activity participation compared to urban older people,and the proportion of high-intensity physical activity participation is greater.The proportion of older people participating in high-intensity physical activity decreases with age and is highest among elderly males.Thirdly,there is a significant urban-rural disparity in the health status of older people,with rural older people generally having lower health levels than urban older people.The proportion of urban older people with good health overall shows an age-related decline.The health status of elderly females is generally lower than that of elderly males.Secondly,research on the impact of physical activity on the health of urban and rural older people reveals a significant positive correlation between physical activity and health.However,the promotion of health through physical activity is lower for rural older people compared to urban older people,indicating the presence of urban-rural differences.For urban older people,both high-intensity and moderate-intensity physical activities have significant promoting effects on health.For rural older people,only high-intensity physical activity has a significant promoting effect on health,and its effect is lower than that in urban areas.The different patterns of high-intensity physical activity may be the main reason for the varying health promotion effects between urban and rural areas.High-intensity physical activity among urban older people is generally oriented towards physical exercise for health enhancement,while high-intensity physical activity among rural older people is often related to income generation through agricultural labor.Therefore,when conducting health interventions or formulating related measures,it is necessary to consider the differences in physical activity patterns between urban and rural areas and make targeted adjustments.Thirdly,research on the impact of sleep on the health of older people reveals that insufficient sleep has a negative impact on the health level of both urban and rural older people,and adequate sleep is a protective factor for their health.Firstly,different sleep conditions have different effects on health.Insufficient sleep is significantly negatively correlated with the health of older people,while an appropriate sleep duration has a significant promoting effect on their health.The impact of excessive sleep on health is not significant,and among these three sleep conditions,insufficient sleep has the greatest impact on health.Secondly,there is an urban-rural difference in the promoting effect of an appropriate sleep duration on health,with a more pronounced effect observed among urban older people.This urban-rural difference in the effect can be analyzed in conjunction with the current sleep conditions.Overall,urban older people have better sleep conditions than rural older people,resulting in a more pronounced promoting effect.Fourthly,research on the relationship between sleep and physical activity reveals that sleep duration has a predictive effect on the subsequent level of physical activity among older people,indicating a temporal relationship between sleep duration and physical activity participation.This relationship exhibits temporal continuity,as shorter sleep duration may continue to affect the level of physical activity among older people over a longer period.On the other hand,the predictive effect of physical activity on subsequent sleep duration is not significant,which may be because physical activity has a minimal impact on the sleep of older individuals without typical sleep problems,especially those who have no atypical sleep issues,thereby exerting less influence on their sleep.This conclusion further emphasizes the importance of sleep and suggests that when intervening in the sleep and physical activity of older people to achieve better health status,attention should be given to the emphasis.Priority can be given to improving sleep quality before adjusting individual’s level of physical activity participation.When intervening in physical activity,adjustments should be made to the pattern and intensity of physical activity,while ensuring sleep quality.Fifthly,research on the relationship between sleep,physical activity,and health reveals that physical activity serves as a mediator between sleep and health,a finding validated among both urban and rural elderly populations.Therefore,older individuals with poor sleep can improve their sleep quality and enhance physical health by adjusting their level of physical activity participation.In practical applications,interventions should be implemented that can simultaneously impact both physical activity and sleep conditions to improve the health status of older people.This shift in thinking,moving away from the idea of improving health by focusing on only one aspect,may lead to more effective health interventions.This study integrates theories and methods from demography,sports science,and sociology,demonstrating a certain level of innovation.Exploring the relationship between sleep,physical activity,and health as core elements of a healthy lifestyle provides important clues for a deeper understanding of the complexity of elderly health.From a theoretical perspective,the research findings enrich the understanding of the relationship between population aging and health,offer new perspectives for the improvement and implementation of health promotion programs,broaden the scope of research on elderly health,and enhance the existing research framework.From a practical perspective,the study provides references for establishing healthy lifestyles and continuously improving and effectively implementing health promotion policies in the context of population aging,assisting society in actively addressing the health and medical challenges posed by population aging.The study suggests that to improve the health status of older people,attention should be given to and the promotion of appropriate sleep duration and levels of physical activity,while developing corresponding health promotion strategies based on individual differences.