OBJECTIVE: The purpose of study was to assess the level of fitness related to health in elderly women aged 60 to 70, physically active and sedentary, in the city of Sapiranga, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. METHODS: It was an ex post-facto study that assessed 40 elderly women selected through a convenience sample and distributed into two groups: practicing physical activities (n=20) and not practicing them (n=20). It was assessed: waist circumference, Waist-hip ratio - WH-ratio, Body Mass Index-BMI, cardiorespiratory capacity, upper and lower limb strength, and flexibility. The data normal distribution was verified through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (α = 0,05). The sample profile was determined through the descriptive Statistics and to test the difference between the two groups averages it was used the ttest for independent samples through the SPSS software, version 16.0. RESULTS: The age average of the sample was 64.6±3,6 years. The tests results average observed were: Body Mass Index, 29.8±5.7; waist circumference, 86.8±10.3 cm; Waist-hip ratio, 0.86; 6-minute walk test, 409.1±60.0 m; heart rate at rest (HRR), 93.6±17.5 bpm; final heart rate (FHR), 107.6±17.3 bpm; elbow flex test, 12.0±3.7rep.; lower limb sitting down and getting up from a chair, 10.4±2.9 rep., and flexibility test, 20.4±9.5 cm. CONCLUSION: The study conclusion was that in the studied sample the results were within the expected levels for the age group, except for HRR and FHR.
Elderly; Physical fitness; Physical activity,Health; Sapiranga-RS/Brasil
