In sum , exercise and physical activity can effectively prevent weight gain in older adults and postmenopausal women either in terms of weight loss or maintenance .
They can preserve lean body mass and thus are important for the balance between potentially positive and negative effects of weight reduction in later life .
In addition , since all intervention studies were conducted with an overweight sample , it seems that primordial prevention ( in terms of preventing the development of risk factors such as excess weight in the first place ) might be a neglected issue in geriatric and postmenopausal prevention
This review examines the role of exercise and physical activity for preventing  weight gain in older people .
Physical activity and body mass: changes in younger versus older postmenopausal women.
PURPOSE The study 's purpose was to investigate the relationship of sedentary ( ≤ 100 MET · min · wk(-1 ) ) , low ( > 100 - 500 MET · min · wk(-1 ) ) , moderate ( > 500 - 1200 MET · min · wk(-1 ) ) , and high ( > 1200 MET · min · wk(-1 ) ) habitual physical activity  with body weight , body mass index , and measures of fat distribution ( waist-to-hip ratio ) in postmenopausal women by age decades . METHODS A prospect i ve cohort study of 58,610 postmenopausal women age 50 - 79 yr weighed annually during 8 yr at one of 40 US clinical centers was analyzed to determine the relationship of high versus low habitual physical activity with changes in body weight and fat distribution by age group . RESULTS Among women age 50 - 59 yr , there was significant weight loss in those expending > 500 - 1200 MET · min · wk(-1 ) ( coefficient = -0.30 , 95 % confidence interval = -0.53 to -0.07 ) compared with the group expending ≤ 100 MET · min · wk(-1 ) . Among women age 70 - 79 yr , higher physical activity was associated with less weight loss ( coefficient = 0.34 , 95 % confidence interval = 0.04 - 0.63 ) . Age at baseline significantly modified the association between physical activity and total weight change , whereas baseline body mass index did not . CONCLUSIONS High habitual physical activity is associated with less weight gain  in younger postmenopausal women and less weight loss  in older postmenopausal women . These findings suggest that promoting physical activity among postmenopausal women may be important for managing body weight changes that accompany aging
In sum , exercise and physical activity can effectively prevent weight gain in older adults and postmenopausal women either in terms of weight loss or maintenance .
They can preserve lean body mass and thus are important for the balance between potentially positive and negative effects of weight reduction in later life .
In addition , since all intervention studies were conducted with an overweight sample , it seems that primordial prevention ( in terms of preventing the development of risk factors such as excess weight in the first place ) might be a neglected issue in geriatric and postmenopausal prevention
This review examines the role of exercise and physical activity for preventing  weight gain in older people .