45 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved. THE STUDY OF LIFE STYLE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF IRANIAN ELDERLY Morteza Taheri 1 1 Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Social Science, International Imam Khomeini University, Qazvin, Iran ABSTRACT Successful aging is largely determined by individual lifestyle choices. The purpose of this study was to determine the Status of Lifestyle in elderly population of Qazvin city. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the life style among 183 elderly selected randomly in health clinic. Lifestyle elderly questionnaire in five domains including lifestyle, prevention, exercise, nutrition, stress and relationships was used. Pearson, ANOVA and independent T-tests were applied at significance level of 0.05. The results suggested that life style has a positive correlation with prevention, exercise, nutrition, relationship On the other hand, there was a negative significant correlation between stress and life style, prevention, exercise and the positive relationship were found between exercise and relationships, nutrition. Due to growing elderly population and the importance of healthy lifestyle, it's recommended that appropriate strategies be implemented for improving healthy lifestyle in elderly population. Consequently, Older adults adopting more healthy lifestyles are more likely to maintain active life style. Keywords: Elderly, Lifestyle, Prevention, Exercise, Nutrition, Relationship. Received: 12 December 2014/ Revised: 23 December 2014/ Accepted: 30 December 2014/ Published: 5 January 2015 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of older persons worldwide. The proportion of the population aged 60 and over, is also growing each year. By the year 2025, the world will host 1.2 billion people aged 60 and over and rising to 1.9 billion in 2050. (World Population Prospects, 2003) According to 2006 census, Islamic republic of Iran with 7.27 % population over 60 years old, has been converted to an elder country (Dadkhah, 2007) .The demographic transition with ageing of the population is a global phenomenon which demands international, national, regional and local action. Although prolongation of life remains an important public health goal, of even greater importance is that extended life should include the capacity to live independently and to function well. However common aging diseases are preventable with adherence to healthy lifestyle (Taghdici et al., 2013). The health problems of the elderly are complicated by social, economic and psychological interactions to a greater degree Journal of Sports Research 2014 Vol.1, No.3, pp. 45-48 ISSN(e): 2410-6534 ISSN(p): 2413-8436 DOI: 10.18488/journal.90/2014.1.3/90.3.45.48 © 2014 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.