Stemming from the perception that chronic disorders are a part of normal aging, it is commonly believed that older adults cannot respond to lifestyle interventions, and that aging and chronic diseases are inevitable. Both of these perceptions, however,have been disproved, as accumulating evidence indicates that risk factors are potentially avoidable, rather than inevitable, and can be modified through lifestyle interventions, including exercise.

Vulnerability to chronic age-related diseases increases exponentially after middle age. At 50, the risk for many age-related conditions begins to double every five to seven years.

Care of older people has focused on managing chronic disorders rather than on the promotion of healthy lifestyles and prevention of c chronic diseases.

The crucial assumption behind efforts to change this focus is that changes in lifestyle and medical care can prevent, postpone or reverse age-related morbidity. The Alliance for Aging Research, which deems chronic illness a threat to the health of the nation, reports that 86 percent of older Americans “believe that exercising regularly is very important or essential to staying healthy as they grow older.”