The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) yesterday said it plans to set up 288 fitness clubs nationwide by 2025 to help elderly people prevent muscle loss and other disabilities.
The number of people aged 65 or older has reached more than 3.94 million, accounting for 16.9 percent of the nation’s population, HPA Deputy Director-General Chia Shu-li (賈淑麗) told a news conference in Taipei.
However, the prevalence of sarcopenia — progressive loss of muscle mass and strength — in the nation is about 7 percent, implying that there could be more than 300,000 elderly people with sarcopenia, which increases the risk of other disabilities, she said.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
“In a 2013 study by the HPA, we found that about 16.5 percent of elderly people fell at least once in the past one year, and about 8 percent sought treatment or were hospitalized after falling,” Chia said.
Bone fracture is a common fall-induced injury among older people, and in some serious cases, falling can cause a stroke, so it is important that older adults preserve muscle mass by exercising, she said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare launched a Senior Fitness Club pilot program on June 30, 2020, and the HPA in the second half of last year promoted a Senior Fitness Club subsidy program, encouraging local governments to open fitness centers targeting older people.
Fourteen fitness clubs were set up in the pilot program, and there were about 50 fixed members at each site, so a total of about 700 members each visited the gyms about three times a week, Chia said.
The HPA has allocated a budget of NT$288 million (US$10.33 million) to set up 288 more Senior Fitness Clubs across the nation from this year to 2025, hoping to encourage more older people to make it a habit to exercise regularly, she said.
At the news conference, a man surnamed Chen (陳) was invited to share his experience of exercising at the Smart Senior Health Promotion Center established by National Yunlin University of Science and Technology as a demonstration site for senior fitness clubs.
After showing his ability to do a handstand, forward bend, squat on one foot and yoga tree pose, Chen, who had been diagnosed with cirrhosis and cancer, said his muscle strength, muscular endurance, balance and flexibility all improved after joining the fitness club.
“When I was in my 50s, the doctor said I might have only five more years to live, and now I am 75 years old,” Chen said.
Chen said he only started exercising after he became sick, and felt even stronger after learning from instructors at the fitness club in the past few months.
He encouraged other elderly people who do not have the habit of exercising to “take the first step” by going to the fitness gym, and “you will continue to improve from then on.”
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