It is well known that research has provided evidence that physical activity and nutrition work together for better health. Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists have again reported on how the elderly also can engage in physical activity to improve quality of life.

In a recent study involving a group of 213 volunteers aged 70 to 89 years, the better the participants' adherence to a physical activity program, the greater their improvements in physical functioning. The study was led by physiologist Roger Fielding with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University, Boston, Mass. He is director of the center's Nutrition, Exercise Physiology and Sarcopenia Laboratory.