Those of you who know me well, also know that I can sometimes react quite strongly,
Thankfully these days, I manage to mask it better and I mostly remain composed and pleasant as befits an older lady like me!
Today was one of these occasions. An innocent visit to an optician for a regular eye check turned into a classic experience of ageism.
I was asked what my job was and explained that I am a fitness instructor. I added that many of my clients are 70 or over. The immediate response from the very nice young optician was: So you teach chair based exercises?
No! I wanted to scream. I realised that this was a classic example of ageism. After a little further discussion, she admitted that both her parents were in their 70's and perfectly fit and healthy.
Ageism? What is wrong with that? Surely you are just being nice and helpful? Does the average person even know what ageism is? A little research led me to the following information from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"Ageism is the stereotyping and discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age; ageism can take many forms, including prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices, or institutional policies and practices that perpetuate stereotypical beliefs...
Negative ageist attitudes are widely held across societies and not confined to one social or ethnic group. Research suggests that ageism may now be even more pervasive than sexism and racism. This has serious consequences both for older people and society at large.....Ageism has harmful effects on the health of older adults. Research by Levy et al shows that older adults with negative attitudes about ageing may live 7.5 years less than those with positive attitudes.
Ageism has been shown to cause cardiovascular stress, lowered levels of self-efficacy and decreased productivity.
Time to speak up for all of us and lead by example. Time for us to treat our older parents if you are lucky enough to still have them like equals. Nobody ever loses their inner badass (see my previous blog https://www.fitterthanever.co.uk/post/how-is-your-inner-badass-doing). Wanting to have a laugh, social interactions, ways to improve ourselves, to achieve something difficult is what we all crave.
I am lucky enough to experience this everyday in my classes and with my clients. We have fun, we work hard, have a sense of achievement and feel good about ourselves.
If you treat someone like an old person they will behave like an old person. Don't be that person!
For classes or personal training contact me on ppfitterthanever@gmail.com
www.fitterthanever.co.uk

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