SUCCESSFULLY AGING. CHOICE OF LIFE OR LIFE THAT CHOICES?

PETRALIA MARIA CRISTINA¹, COCO MARINELLA², MACI TIZIANA³, MINISSALE CHIARA⁴ , CONCETTA DE PASQUALE⁴, D’ORTO GIANLUCA⁴, MARIA SOFIA BASILE², DONATO EZIO⁵, MANIACI MARIO⁵, COMMODARI ELENA⁶, DI NUOVO SANTO⁶, PERCIAVALLE VINCENZO², DI CORRADO DONATELLA⁷, GUARNERA MARIA⁷, PIRRONE CONCETTA⁶, CASTELLANO SABRINA¹, PLATANIA SILVIA², RAMACI TIZIANA⁷, BELLOMO MARIA⁷, MAGGIO CLAUDIO4, SEHILI AMEL4, COCO LUCIO SALVATORE GIOVANNI4, NAPOLITANO SALVATORE⁸, ASCIONE ANTONIO⁸, PERCIAVALLE VALENTINA⁶, BUSCEMI ANDREA⁹

¹Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences and Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania - ²Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania - ³Department of Mental Health of ASP 3 in Catania - Alzheimer Center Psychogeriatry - ⁴University of Catania - ⁵Virgin Active Catania - ⁶Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania - ⁷Department of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University, Enna - ⁸Department Physical Education and Wellness, University of Naples “Parthenope” - ⁹Horus Cooperative Social, Ragusa

Introduction: Doing regular physical activity offers a great deal of positive physiological and psychological effects, such as a decrease in cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and hypertension.

Today, more than ever, physical activity is particularly relevant in people’s life, as it can be seen by the great number of people who registers in gyms, and by the growing importance given to wellness/ fitness and the striving to physical “perfection”. It is known that a good perception of his own body allows the individual to positively influence his self-esteem, his self-efficacy and his mood.

There are not age limitations to enroll in sport clubs and in the last twenty years many seniors have begun to enroll in sport clubs and to frequent them assiduously.

Materials and methods: In the present research, we asked ourselves if for a sample of seniors, going regularly to a sport club is linked to a concept of health or to different variables

We went to a prestigious Sicilian gym and we documented ourselves about the age of the people enrolled in the structure; we examined a sample of seniors frequenting the structure both on personality and self-perception variables, and on the natural predi- sposition to confront emergencies (digit radio).

Results: The Big Five -10 items show that the female group is more open to experience while the male sample shows higher values for consciousness and extroversion. 44% of the female sample and 52% of the male sample obtained mean self-efficacy values.Values obtained from the sample show a statistically relevant difference (P<<0,0001) between real figure and ideal figure; these values reveal that the sample is not satisfied of his body. Results obtained from the entire sample show a slight level of overwei- ght with a BMI of 25,91 (±3,5). While the ratio 2D: 4D is correlated for both groups conscientiously.

Conclusion: Results leads us to observe, firstly, the growing number of seniors enrolled at the gym, secondary, that the choice to frequent a sport club is mostly linked to an aesthetic canon imposed by modern society and not to a concept of health. To the que- stion “Choice of life or life that choices?” that we asked ourselves at the beginning of this work we can answer with slight bitterness that often is the life that choices. In any age, mediatic conditioning is very strong; we should continue to make physical activity with the awareness that it represents life and health for our body, becoming sometimes a true elixir of life.