Population of older people in many countries is constantly growing, therefore the subject of successful aging has become important and a priority for public health policy-makers. A person who is successfully aging has low risk of chronic disease and disability, high physical function, good mental health and social engagement in older age. Lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, have been identified as determinants of successful aging. The aim of this narrative review is to compile the evidence from big cohort studies on the overall health of older people. Their results indicate that regular physical activity increases the chances of successful aging in older people, but only after reaching a sufficient threshold. Physical activity lowers the risk of many chronic diseases and cognitive decline commonly associated with older age, promotes social engagement and improves self-estimated well-being.

National Polish Health Test is an online study conducted on a large group of Polish Internet users. For the purpose of this study, 64,732 subjects (48.8% female) over 65 years old were included. Subjects provided answers on the level of physical activity (PA) they engage in, prevalence of non-communicable diseases (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, cancer) and subjective physical and psychological health. Additionally, their Body Mass Index (BMI) and prevalence of multimorbidity was assessed. We found that older people who engage in at least 2 h of physical activity/week had significantly lower prevalence of hypertension, obesity and heart diseases than those who engaged in 1–1.5 h/week or less than 1 h/week. Multimorbidity was present in 33.2% of subjects from the most active group and 52.6% of the least active ones. Subjective physical and psychological health was rated as “very good” by 26.6% and 41.2%, respectively, by subjects from the most active group. Only 9.1% of the least active subjects rated their physical health as “very good” and only 27.4% rated their psychological health as such. Regular physical activity may be a helpful tool in combating the reduced well-being of older people affected by the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, over 65% of respondents claimed to engage in less than 1 h of PA a week or less.

Sports stadia play an important role in local communities, therefore they are seen as very suitable places for various health promotion programmes. Since 2005, the Healthy Stadia programme has become a new standard for establishing policies regarding health promotion in local communities and during big international tournaments. This programme is an example of an effective setting-based approach to health promotion. Being funded by the European Union Public Health Programme, it has gained popularity in many European countries and also in Canada and Australia. Key parts of the programme include policies on tobacco and alcohol control, healthy food options and physical activity promotion on stadium grounds. Healthy Stadia programme proved to be an effective tool for promoting healthy lifestyle at many sports stadia. The programme is constantly improving and developing new projects, like Football Fans in Training (FFIT) or European Fans in Training (EuroFIT). This article provides an introduction to the programme’s main parts as well as its origins and future projects. Poland is active member of the Healthy Stadia since 2007.