中年階段健身與少年階段健身一樣受益大綱

Getting active in midlife could be as good for you as starting young when it comes to reducing the risk of an early death, researchers have suggested.

研究員表示：在降低早逝風險方面，人到中年開始運動與年少時就開始運動一樣受益。

But experts say the study, which looked at people's patterns of exercise as they aged and their subsequent death records, also shows the benefits fade once exercise declines.

但專家表示，這項研究關注的是隨着年齡的增長，人們所採取的運動模式以及他們的死亡記錄，同時，這項研究還表明，一旦減少運動，所受益處也會慢慢消失。

"If you maintain an active lifestyle or participate in some sort of exercise over this window of time [from youth to middle age], you can reduce your risk for dying," said Dr Pedro Saint-Maurice, the lead author of the research, from the National Cancer Institute in the US.

"如果你從青少年時期到中年時期一直保持着積極的生活方式，或是進行了某種運動，你的死亡風險就會降低，"該研究的首席作者Pedro Saint-Maurice醫生說道，他來自美國國家癌症研究所。

"If you are not active and you get to your 40s-50s and you decide to become active, you can still enjoy a lot of those benefits."

"如果你在這段時間內並不活躍，到了40至50歲時決定開始運動，那你仍能享受運動帶來的益處。"

The study, published in the journal Jama Network Open, was based on data from more than 300,000 Americans aged 50-71 who undertook a questionnaire in the mid-1990s. They were asked to estimate the extent of their moderate to vigorous leisure exercise at different stages of their life. Researchers then used national records to track who died in the years up to the end of 2011.

發表在《美國醫學會雜誌》Network Open上的這篇研究的基礎源於1990年中期30多萬名參與問卷調查的50至71歲的美國人的數據。受試者被要求預估在生命中的不同階段所進行的休閒運動的程度：適度-劇烈。之後，研究員利用國內記錄來追蹤截至2011年底的死亡受試者人數。

After taking into account factors including age, sex, smoking and diet, the team found that those who were exercising into middle age had a lower risk of death from any cause in the years that followed than those who had never carried out any leisure exercise. However, when the team looked at 10 different patterns in the way people were active over their life, it found a surprise.

考慮了年齡、性別、吸菸和節食等因素後，該研究團隊發現：相比從未健身的受試者而言，在中年階段保持運動的受試者在這些年內的死亡率更低（無論死於何種原因）。然而，當研究團隊研究了人們保持活躍的10種不同的模式時，他們發現了驚喜。

Men and women who ramped up their activity gradually to about seven hours a week by the age of 40-61 reduced their risk of death from any cause in the years that followed by about 35%. The benefit was similar to that seen for people who reached and maintained similar activity from their teens or 20s onwards, or who exercised at such a level when young and middle-aged but dipped in activity in their 30s.

40到61歲逐漸將運動量增加爲每週7小時左右的受試者在生命後期死於任何原因的風險降低了約35%。這一益處與青少年時期或20歲出頭就開始保持運動的受試者所獲的益處相差無幾，同時與在青年時段至中年時段保持高強度鍛鍊但30歲之後便降低運動程度的受試者所獲的益處相似。