To obtain basic data concerning health and physical fitness in elderly people, we conducted a
questionnaire and a physical fitness test in the agricultural district of Toyama prefecture. The
questionnaire included questions about health, food, sleep and physical exercise conditions in daily
life. Fifty-eight elderly people participated in the physical fitness test. Blood pressure, vital capacity,
flexibility, reaction time, one-leg balancing (with open and closed eyes) , shuttle stamina walk and
nitrous oxide in exhaled air were determined for all subjects. The following results were obtained :
1) Many elderly people take care to obtain proper food, sleep and physical exercise in their daily
life to maintain their health and physical fitness.
2) The results of body flexion in the sitting position and one-leg balancing with eyes opened
obtained here was slightly better than that obtained by Kimura et al. who measured physical fitness
of elderly in Osaka. Results were almost the same for the shuttle stamina walk.
3) There was no significant relationship between the shuttle stamina walk and nitrous oxide in
exhaled air.
名古屋大学総合保健体育科学センター Research Center of Health, Physical Fitness and Sports, Nagoya University
*財団法人スポーツ医・科学研究所 Institute of Sports Medicine and Science
**名古屋大学大学院医学研究科院生 Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University
