NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For millions of Americans, the "golden years" might also come to be known as the "active years," according to researchers who have found that while some retirees continue to warm the couch, many also begin to engage in more physically demanding activities.

"The purpose of this study was to describe the influence of retirement on leisure activity," said study lead author Dr. Kelly R. Evenson of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "(And) individuals retiring...were more likely to increase their sport participation and television watching."

Since 1986, Evenson's team has looked at the physical activity habits of almost 7,800 men and women in Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, and North Carolina. About three-quarters of the participants were white, and one-quarter were African American. All were between the ages of 45 and 64 when the study began, and each was interviewed both at the start and at the end of a 6-year study period.

The study participants were asked to describe their current occupational and health status, as well as the frequency and nature of their activities at work, during leisure-time, and while playing any kind of sport.

By the end of the 6 years, approximately 35% of the white men and 25% of the white women and African-American men and women had retired, according to the report published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

At retirement, the investigators observed, came both a hike in physical activity levels and a rise in TV viewing. Physical activity levels increased overall, but at a lower rate among African-Americans who did not retire, while dropping significantly among whites who continued to work.

Prior to retirement, sports participation was found to be lowest among African-American women and highest among the white men, while leisure activities--such as walking, biking, shopping and TV viewing--were performed most often by the African-American men and least among the white women.

Retirees of any race or gender were more likely than non-retirees to either maintain their prior level of exercise or to switch from being sedentary to adopting some form of exercise, the researchers found. The one exception, they noted, was among retired African-American women.

Among all the participants who altered their physical behavior routines, walking briskly was among either the most popular or second most popular new activity. Other common activities included gardening, walking for pleasure and lawn mowing.

The authors note, however, that they were not sure whether overall activity levels actually increased among retirees or whether new leisure-time activities simply substituted for abandoned work activities. But they pointed out that those who had the least-active jobs were the most likely to experience an increase in their overall activity levels after retirement.

Evenson and colleagues suggest that future research should focus on the full course of an adult life, and how marital status and raising children influences physical activity patterns. But they point out that their identification of certain middle-age behavior patterns could already help with the future design of public health interventions that seek to encourage greater physical activity among both the pre- and post-retirement community.

"Based on our study, retirement may be an ideal time to consider incorporating more physical activity," Evenson told Reuters Health. "This information could be incorporated into pre-retirement planning."

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology 2002;155:692-699.

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