The evolution of the composition by age groups of the population residing in Portugal reveals the aging of the population in recent years, as has happened in most developed countries. As a result of the drop in birth rates and the increase in longevity in recent years, Portugal has seen a decrease in the young population (0 to 14 years old) and the working-age population (15 to 64 years old), along with an increase in elderly population (65 years or older). In 2015, 2.1 million people, almost 20% of the Portuguese population, were aged 65 or over. The proportion of elderly people in the population has been increasing and this trend is expected to continue. According to national projections, in 2030, the elderly will represent about 26% of the population, increasing to 29% in 2060. The number of people aged over 80 will more than double between 2015 and 2060 and should exceed 614 000 to 1 421 000 people. Additionally, in 2015, 18.3% of people aged 65 or over in Portugal were at risk of poverty (16.0% for men and 19.9% for women).
Likewise, a sedentary lifestyle is considered by specialists to be one of the most risky behaviors for health, almost 60% of residents in Spain between the ages of 18 and 65 admit that they do not practice physical activity. 23% of them, about 7 million, admit to doing absolutely nothing, not even walking regularly. More than 17 million citizens consider themselves sedentary. The National Institute of Statistics (INE), based on the 2017 Spanish national health survey, indicates that 49.98% of people over 65 years old declare themselves sedentary (42.06% of men and 57.90% of women ). The data obtained from the European Health Survey in Spain in 2014 indicated sedentary levels of 48.42% in the population aged over 65 years (36.34% of men and 60.50% of women), which indicates that the measures taken so far have not had the desired effect.
Taking into account this issue and the impact of COVID-19 on these age groups, we intend to develop a project that develops/investigates new technologies and/or technological solutions that help maintain active aging in a group context – that is, combine the use of new technologies, seniors and group sports/competitions because the results of projects that we have been developing with the elderly population (www.olympics4all) prove that either through teamwork centered on the competition, or through the socialization between the senior participants that results from it, it was validated unequivocally that competition works as a motivating factor to increase physical activity levels in the elderly, who have maintained high participation rates and low dropout rates.
We intend to provide solutions that help maintain active and healthy aging, now and in the future, based on the assumptions set out above.