I think the point about motivation is a crucial one. Especially as people age, there is surely a decresed motivation for physical activity. Yet if you look at hunter-gatherer societies, you see people in their 70s that are still physically active for hours each day. If you just recommend to older people, "stay active", it's difficult to see how this will have any effect. I'm not sure of the answer, but if there were more social support it would probably help. For example, a person might be more likely to hike with friends than go alone. One other thought: I wonder if there is a certain threshold of physical activity that must be done every day just for psychological purposes. What I'm thinking is that as you become inactive, your motivation decreases, and then you become even more inactive and this continues into a downward spiral. Any thoughts? ----------------------------------------------------------------- The FAQ for Evolutionary Fitness is at http://www.evfit.com/faq.htm To unsubscribe from the list send an e-mail to [log in to unmask] with the words SIGNOFF EVOLUTIONARY-FITNESS in the _body_ of the e-mail.