Want to live to a grand old age? Drink beer and play billiards, researcher claims
Billiards involves long rests between shots and so is perfect for pensioners
Having a beer with billiards means they keep active and get social contact
Playing billiards takes their minds off their illness, researchers found
Expert said billiards should be included in global guidance on 'active ageing'
If ever there was an excuse for a man to head to the pub, then this is probably it.
Billiards and beer help combat the ageing process - and should actively be encouraged, say health experts.
Researchers say enjoying a pint or a tipple while playing billiards helps keep men over the age of 70 active.
The game - often associated with booze, dusty bars and working men's clubs - provides pensioners with the perfect exercise because of its long periods of rest between activity, according to the study.
The study's author, Aske Lassen, even said 'billiards and beer' should be included in the official policy papers on 'active ageing' issued by the World Health Organisation and the European Union.
He carried out field work in two activity centres for the elderly in Copenhagen, Denmark, where up to one in 15 men between the ages of 70 and 95 meet to play billiards four times a week.
Mr Lassen, a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen's Centre for Healthy Ageing, said: 'Playing billiards often comes with a certain lifestyle, drinking beer and drams for instance, and I am quite sure this was not what WHO and EU meant when they formulated their active ageing policies.
'But billiards does constitute active ageing. Billiards is, first of all, an activity these men thoroughly enjoy.'That enhances their quality of life while immersing them in their local community and keeping them socially active.
'And billiards is, secondly, very suitable exercise for old people because the game varies naturally between periods of activity and passivity - and this means the men can keep playing for hours.
Billiards involves long rests between shots and so is perfect for pensioners
Having a beer with billiards means they keep active and get social contact
Playing billiards takes their minds off their illness, researchers found
Expert said billiards should be included in global guidance on 'active ageing'
If ever there was an excuse for a man to head to the pub, then this is probably it.
Billiards and beer help combat the ageing process - and should actively be encouraged, say health experts.
Researchers say enjoying a pint or a tipple while playing billiards helps keep men over the age of 70 active.
The game - often associated with booze, dusty bars and working men's clubs - provides pensioners with the perfect exercise because of its long periods of rest between activity, according to the study.
The study's author, Aske Lassen, even said 'billiards and beer' should be included in the official policy papers on 'active ageing' issued by the World Health Organisation and the European Union.
He carried out field work in two activity centres for the elderly in Copenhagen, Denmark, where up to one in 15 men between the ages of 70 and 95 meet to play billiards four times a week.
Mr Lassen, a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen's Centre for Healthy Ageing, said: 'Playing billiards often comes with a certain lifestyle, drinking beer and drams for instance, and I am quite sure this was not what WHO and EU meant when they formulated their active ageing policies.
'But billiards does constitute active ageing. Billiards is, first of all, an activity these men thoroughly enjoy.'That enhances their quality of life while immersing them in their local community and keeping them socially active.
'And billiards is, secondly, very suitable exercise for old people because the game varies naturally between periods of activity and passivity - and this means the men can keep playing for hours.
