# Health, Performance Ratings and Approachability of 50–60-Year-Old Sedentary Adults (ActIv-Study): Key Insights for Health Economy and Exercise Promotion

## TL;DR

This study explores how different groups of sedentary older adults in Germany respond to exercise promotion, highlighting the need for strong incentives to improve health and participation.

## Contribution

The study identifies distinct subgroups of sedentary individuals and their varying motivations for exercise, emphasizing the need for targeted incentive systems.

## Key findings

- Significant differences exist in health, fitness, and motivation to exercise among subgroups of sedentary individuals.
- Non-athletes show lower motivation for exercise compared to sports-beginners and sports-dropouts.
- Voluntary appeals alone are insufficient to counter negative health trends; strong incentives are needed.

## Abstract

Despite significant prevention efforts, the numbers of physically inactive individuals, chronic illnesses, exhaustion syndromes and sick leaves are increasing. A still unresolved problem with exercise promotion is the low participation of sedentary persons. This collective term covers heterogeneous subgroups. Their engagement with movement campaigns and resistance to change are influenced by numerous factors. Our aim was to analyse survey data on health, performance, lifestyle habits and the approachability to physical activity campaigns obtained from the Germany-wide ActIv survey. From 2888 study participants aged 50–60 years, 668 persons were categorised into the subgroups “never-athletes”, “sports-dropouts”, “always-athletes” and “sports-beginners”. Large and significant group differences were found for BMI, assessment of quality of life, health and fitness, risk factors and health problems. In total, 42.5% of “never-athletes” and 32.5% of “sports-dropouts” did not state any barriers to sport. There are substantial disparities between the non-athlete groups in terms of their motivation to exercise. In contrast, there are comparatively minor differences in motivation between “sports-dropouts” and “sports-beginners”, whose health and fitness are the primary motivators for sport. Our analyses suggest that (i) negative health and performance trends cannot be compensated for by appeals for voluntary participation in exercise programmes and (ii) powerful incentive systems are required.