Physical strength of women aged 35-44 lowest ever

October 9, 2017

TOKYO- Physical strength and athletic ability of women aged 35-39 and 40-44 have fallen to the lowest levels ever, an annual survey by the Japan Sports Agency showed Sunday.

Elementary to university students, people in their 20s and elderly people saw their physical strength continue rising, with women aged 20-24 and 25-29, men aged 60-64 and women aged 75-79 posting record-high scores.

In the survey, conducted in May-October 2016, participants earned points in each exercise category. Data on some 65,000 people aged 6-79 were obtained in the latest survey.

Hisashi Naito, professor at Juntendo University, who analyzed the results of the survey, said that the proportion of people in the working and child-rearing generations who regularly do physical exercise has been declining as a trend for both men and women.

Scores earned by men and women in their late 30s and early 40s have been on a downtrend since the current survey format was adopted in 1998.

Among children, boys aged 7 and 10, and girls aged 9, 12 and 13 earned the highest scores ever. Scores for those aged 6-19 are gradually rising.

The uptrends reflect schools' efforts to help improve children's physical strength, according to the agency. Still, grip strength and ball-throwing ability remained on a declining trend.

People aged 65-79 showed improvements in most exercise categories, including standing on one leg with both eyes open.

People in the age category, who were in their teens to 20s when the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games were held, became interested in doing exercise thanks to the international sporting event and saw their physical strength increase as a result, according to the agency. Jiji Press