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Make like a Flamingo and Stand

How long can you stand on one leg?

Does this count? The Good Oil. Photoshop by Lushington Brady.

The Beep Test. Cholesterol tests. BMI, blood pressure, bone density, bowel screening – there’s no end of ways we can be poked, prodded, weighed and measured to tell us how healthy – or not – we are. Especially as the population ages.

You’d think the last thing we need is yet another handy-dandy health check for us oldies. Well, you’re getting one anyway. At least this is a simple, cost-free one to worry yourself with.

According to new research, the length of time you can stand on one leg is another sign of ageing.

The researchers found that after the age of 65, there was a sharp drop off as older participants struggled to hold their stance for over two seconds. In the study, which is published in the journal PLoS One, the authors wrote: ‘These findings suggest that the duration of unipedal stance [standing on one leg] can serve as a reliable and gender-independent measure of neuromuscular aging for both elderly male and female subjects’.

So standing on one leg is a good way to measure how much balance you have. The researchers wrote that it is a ‘a valid measure of frailty, independence, and fall status and proves to be a useful tool in identifying patients with peripheral neuropathy.’

You just know there’s going to be a set of NHS-approved ‘guidelines’.

The rules are:

• Keep your eyes open and your hands on your hips

• Stand on one leg without any other support

• Time starts when your foot leaves the ground and stops when you put your foot back down (or when you take your hands off your hips)

OK. Sounds pretty straightforward. We can assume falling over also counts as ending the test. Best not to do it on a Friday night, then.

Ages 18-39: 43 seconds
Ages 40-49: 40 seconds
Ages 50-59: 37 seconds
Ages 60-69: 30 seconds
Ages 70-79: 18 seconds.
80+: 5 seconds.

The gaffers and gammers do get a bit of a let-up, though:

If you’re over 80, you should be able to stand on your leg for a little over 5 seconds. The NHS recommends not to try and maintain the pose for longer than a minute though.

Frankly, if I’m able to get out of my chair at 80, I’ll count that as a win.

What does it mean, though, if you do faceplant before the approved time?

According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in mid to later life is linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years […]

Selina Lim, Divisional Director for Integrated Pathways at the NHS East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), said: ‘We know that people who struggle to balance for the expected amount of time are at a higher risk of developing ill-health as they age. By taking part in the “flamingo challenge” people can quickly and easily assess for themselves whether they are at risk. If they are, there are lots of different activities they can engage in that can help improve their overall fitness.’

Hopping, perchance?


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