Aging, Health, and Physical Activity in Korean Americans

Little is known about the health benefits and the factors that influence physical activity among older adults from ethnically different backgrounds. The aim of this article is to provide a sociocultural context for understanding aging, health, and physical activity among older Korean Americans. Studies that focused on physical activity and exercise among older adults, older Koreans, or older Korean Americans were reviewed. The results of the review were integrated to better understand physical activity in older Korean Americans. Results from varied population-based, cross-sectional, and longitudinal studies that assessed the relationships among aging, health, and physical activity were relatively consistent in their findings. Many correlational studies found a strong, positive relationship between physical activity and health benefits and a moderately positive but sometimes mixed association between physical activity and quality of life among older adults. Additional research is needed to clarify the gap between physical activity and actual and predictive quality of life among older Korean Americans. Also, we need more evidences to show the effects of late-life physical activity or exercise on reducing or minimizing disablement in older Korean Americans.