Introduction
Healthy aging is one of the most deliberated topics globally since older persons exist worldwide, and most people hope to live to old age. According to the WHO, healthy aging denotes developing and maintaining functional abilities that facilitate wellness in advanced ages. Thus, healthy aging involves the creation of opportunities and environments that permit people to continue being and doing what they value in the entirety of their lives. The June 2022 YouTube video under consideration for the paper emanates from the company Clemence Organics, a naturopathy organization, with the title Healthy Ageing – How to live a long and healthy life – Top tips. The speaker in the piece is the founder of Clemence Organics and a known naturopath, Ms. Bridget.
As per the video, the speaker boasts of years of research on healthy aging. She mentions her deep fascination for pockets of community globally where people live healthy and long lives well past 100 years of age. From her studies, she then ventures to give some essential tips on how to live long, healthy lives from her research endeavors.
Article Depiction
The speaker notes that healthy aging is achievable if people adhere to certain lifestyles. She portrays a picture of the need to deliberately implement habits that will facilitate healthy aging and proceed to give her top five tips on how to age healthfully. Firstly, she asserts the need for laughter and friendship, a social support system that provides older people with partners to share their joys and challenges, imparting physiological health (Clemence Organics, 2022). Secondly, she reckons from her research that healthy aging requires a purpose for life and a reason for people to get up each morning, as supported by Oosman et al. (2021) in their publication. These can include simple things like tending to a garden or cooking a meal for a loved one.
Thirdly, the video shows that sleep and stress reduction are essential for healthy aging. Such entails having stress management mechanisms like meditation, gardening, talking with friends, and regular sleep patterns. Fourthly, the researcher stresses the importance of proper diet and nutrition for healthy aging (Clemence Organics, 2022). Hence, she agitates for eating habits primarily of whole foods, fruits, and vegetables and significantly reduced meat consumption, less processed foods, saturated fats, and sugars (calorie restriction). Such nutrition plans aim to increase immunity and vitality in old age to prevent diseases, as seen mainly in the Japanese (Santos et al., 2022). She also mentions the value of intermittent fasting in helping the body to rest and heal.
Lastly, she emphasizes the importance of daily exercise in healthy aging. Exercise helps to rid the body of toxins, keeps the blood and lymphatic system moving to nourish all somatic cells, and revitalizes the muscles and bone tissues for healthy living in old age (Schladitz et al., 2022). According to the video, such exercises can also emanate from simple gardening, which includes cardio and strength training.
Moreover, the speaker hints at some benefits of healthy aging. Healthy aging permits them to meet their basic needs, move about, contribute to society, establish meaningful relationships, and make sound decisions. A better immune system and strength from proper nutrition and regular exercise enables the aged to recover from diseases faster, reduces their likelihood of chronic sickness, and prevents the often dangerous falls common in old age (Öjefors & Olofsson, 2021; Rasiah et al., 2022). The listener appreciates the value of implementing healthy aging tips.
Relevance to Theory of Ageing
The video topic is especially relevant to the activity theory of aging, which maintains that healthy aging occurs when the aged maintain social relations and stay active (Barja, 2019). The model arose in reaction to the disengagement model that postulated that older people detach themselves from society when they realize their closeness to death due to advanced age (Nestor, 2017). In contrast, the activity theory of aging argues that the aged are happier when they maintain social ties and remain active.
The tips espoused in the video as critical for healthy aging support the assumption of the activity theory that maintaining social ties and activity are helpful for healthy aging. According to the activity model of aging, meaningful activities assist the elderly in replacing lost life roles following retirement (Johnson et al., 2019). Thus, the activity theory of aging bodes well with the researcher’s findings on the value of healthy relationships, regular exercise, and having a purpose in life.
For the WHO, healthy aging implies maintaining specific roles and functions even in old age. The activity theory argues that the person should keep the tasks and preferences they developed in middle age during their later years (Mavritsakis et al., 2020). Hence, those who inevitably lose former responsibilities should substitute them with newer ones, like exercise, new purposes in life, good relationships, and other vital activities like proper cooking (Winterhalter & Simm, 2022). The new roles go a long way in maintaining a positive sense of self for healthier aging processes.
Conclusion
According to the WHO, healthy aging implies maintaining functional abilities in advanced years. Healthy aging is beneficial in many ways, including helping to prevent dangerous falls, improving the immune system, preventing disease, aiding recovery, and promoting social life. The video utilized for the discussion indicates some of these benefits associated with healthy aging and gives essential tips for achieving healthy aging from the author’s studies and experiences. The speaker is a reputed naturopath with extensive knowledge and interest in healthy aging communities globally. According to the researcher, exercise, diet, sleep, stress reduction, life purpose, laughter, and friendship are critical for healthy aging. The assertions in the YouTube video titled Healthy Ageing – How to live a long and healthy life – Top tips agree with the activity theory of aging that emphasizes the role of maintained or new responsibilities in healthy aging. The activity approach contrasts with the disengagement model that indicates a detachment from normal social functions in old age.
References
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Clemence Organics. (2022). Healthy ageing – how to live a long and healthy life – top tips. [Video] YouTube.
Johnson, A. A., Shokhirev, M. N., & Shoshitaishvili, B. (2019). Revamping the evolutionary theories of aging. Ageing Research Reviews, 55.
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Nestor Asiamah. (2017). Social engagement and physical activity: Commentary on why the activity and disengagement theories of ageing may both be valid. Cogent Medicine, 4(1).
Öjefors Stark, K., & Olofsson, N. (2021). Daily moderate-intensity physical activities and optimism promote healthy ageing in rural northern Sweden: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 80(1), 1867439.
Oosman, S., Nisbet, C., Smith, L., & Abonyi, S. (2021). Health promotion interventions supporting Indigenous healthy ageing: a scoping review. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 80(1), 1950391.
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