NCT07477262

Health Effects of a Walking Program in a High-Quality Tourism Environment for Older Women

Amplifying Healthy Aging: How A High-Quality Tourism Environment (Yangshuo, China) Selectively Enhanced Exercise Outcomes for Older Women - A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (actual)
• Sponsor: Yu-fan Li · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 60 Years – 75 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effect of environmental context on the health benefits of a standardized walking program in sedentary, overweight older women (aged ≥60 years, BMI ≥24.0 kg/m²) . The main questions it aims to answer are: Does exercising in a high-quality natural tourism environment (Yangshuo) lead to greater improvements in body composition (e.g., body fat percentage) compared to exercising in a conventional institutional setting? Does this environment lead to greater improvements in psychological well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms, sleep quality) than the conventional setting? Researchers will compare a group that walks in the Yangshuo landscape to a group that performs the same walking regimen in a nursing home setting to see if the natural environment amplifies the health benefits of the exercise. Participants in both groups will take part in a supervised, 10-week walking program (5 days/week, 60 mins/session). All participants will have their physiological (e.g., weight, body fat, strength) and psychological (e.g., mood, sleep, quality of life) health measured before and after the program.

Conditions

• Overweight , Obesity

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Walking Program in Natural Tourism Environment	A 10-week supervised walking program conducted in the high-quality natural tourism environment of Yangshuo. Participants are accommodated in a local homestay with direct views of the iconic karst mountains. Walking sessions are conducted on pre-selected, scenic, low-traffic riverside paths. The program consists of group walking 5 days/week, 60 mins/session, at a target intensity of 60-70% heart rate reserve, objectively monitored using Polar H10 chest-worn heart rate sensors.
BEHAVIORAL	Walking Program in Conventional Institutional Environment	A 10-week supervised walking program conducted in a standard institutional setting. Participants reside in a local nursing home with views of institutional buildings or internal courtyards. Walking sessions are conducted on pre-measured, paved urban streets surrounding the nursing home. The program consists of group walking 5 days/week, 60 mins/session, at a target intensity of 60-70% heart rate reserve, objectively monitored using Polar H10 chest-worn heart rate sensors to match the exercise dose with the experimental group.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-05-25
• Primary completion: 2024-10-15
• Completion: 2024-12-20
• First posted: 2026-03-17
• Last updated: 2026-03-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: China