[Motor activity--healthy development--aging successfully?].

Human science has re-discovered the human body. We hardly realize, however, how much a person really depends on his body. This article intends to make evident how the close relationship between motor activity, feeling, thinking, and social behavior can be utilized for the healthy development of young people and for keeping fit and healthy in old age. Examples from the fields of therapy and rehabilitation illustrate the working of motor activity when there are physical, psychic, and social deficiencies. If sports for the elderly is practiced in order to improve the process of successfully aging, we have to reconsider this subject, and we must integrate sports for the elderly into health routines. This will challenge physical education teachers and exercise program directors and they should prepare for the future.