Grab your golf clubs and put on your most embarrassing pair of pants.
Spending time on the links at least once a month can lower the risk of early death in older adults and seniors, a new study suggests.
Golf could be the ultimate relaxing sport: It reduces stress while yielding exercise benefits, provides a social component, and it’s played at a controlled, steady pace, meaning you can enjoy the game even as you age.
“Our study is perhaps the first of its kind to evaluate the long-term health benefits of golf, one of the most popular sports among older people in many countries,” said lead study author Dr. Adnan Qureshi. He is a professor of neurology at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
“The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans does not yet include golf in the list of recommended physical activities,” Qureshi adds in an American Heart Association news release. “Therefore, we are hopeful our research findings could help to expand the options for adults to include golf.”
In the study, researchers examined data from the Cardiovascular Health Study, which had examined risk factors for heart disease and stroke in adults aged 65 and older. Out of the 5,900 participants, 384 identified as golfers.
Comparing death rates in the group, the researchers found the golfers had a significantly lower rate of death – 15 per cent, compared to about 25 per cent for non-golfers.
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Having said that, the study doesn’t yet prove that golfing enhances longevity, but that it can help prevent early death.
“While walking and low-intensity jogging may be comparable exercise, they lack the competitive excitement of golf,” Qureshi explained.
“Regular exercise, exposure to a less polluted environment and social interactions provided by golf are all positive for health,” he added. “Another positive is that older adults can continue to play golf, unlike other more strenuous sports such as football, boxing and tennis.”
The findings are to be presented next week at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference, in Los Angeles.
In the future, the researchers will undertake further analyses to determine whether playing golf can also counter other problematic health conditions.
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