This paper reports our saccess in improving an apron used by a hemiplegic man when eating to protect clothes in a geriatric health services facility. The improved apron is useful at home, and helpful for caregivers. He needed assistance during meals and spilled food so frequently that clothes had to be changed after each meal. Frequent changes of clothes meant big burden for persons who looked after him at his home. His wife said, “Changing clothes after every meal will be very troubles some”, Sowe triedto improve the apron by use of cheap and easily available material. After trial and error we succeeded in making the apron that pleased both him and his family.

PORPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the relation between cardiorespiratory fitness(CRF) and physical activity, especially vigorous physical activity, in Japanese middle-aged and elderly men.METHODS: Eighty-five men aged 30-69 years participated in this study. CRF was assessed by measuring the maximal oxygen uptake based on weight (VO₂max/wt) in an incremental test on a bicycle ergometer. METs·h/week was measured as the parameter of physical activity by using accelerometers. We defined the amount of physical activity higher than 3 METs as “Physical activity ; PA”in this study. Then, PA was divided into “Moderate physical activity ; MPA”(higher than 3 METs and below 6 METs)and “Vigorous physical activity ; VPA”(higher than 6 METs).RESULTS : CRF was positively correlated with PA(r=0.318, P<0.01), MPA(r=0.230, P<0.05), and VPA(r=0.301, P<0.01) and negatively correlated with age(r=-0.607, P<0.001), BMI(r=-0.369, P<0.01), and waist circumference(WC)(r=-0.486, P<0.001). After adjusting for age and WC, the multiple regression analysis revealed that PA was positively correlated with CRF(P<0.01). VPA was positively correlated with CRF(P<0.05) after adjusting for age, WC, and MPA. MPA was not correlated with CRF in the case of adjusting for age and WC.CONCLUSION : This study suggested that physical activity higher than 3 METs was positively associated with cardiorespiratory fitness independently of age and waist circumference, and particularly vigorous physical activity may contribute to increased cardiorespiratory fitness in middle-aged and elderly men. Thus physically active life with maintenance of adequate waist circumference may help to prevent age-related decline in cardiorespiratory fitness.