In the "National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards (2023 Revision)" issued by the National Physical Fitness Monitoring Center, there is a test that:On the premise of ensuring safety, closeEye stands on one foot, aimed at adults aged 20 to 79. To test, close your eyes and lift one foot to the hard, flat ground with the other and start the timer to see how many seconds you can last. 
Fu SijiaFor middle-aged and older people over 50 years of age, ifThe risk of dying in the next 4 to 9 years is significantly higher than standing on one foot for 10 seconds with one eye closed and 10 seconds higher, which is 84% higher than being able to hold on to one foot for 10 seconds. If you're under 50 and can't hold on for 10 seconds, then you might really want to pay attention to it! Specifically, you can take a look at the data in the "National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards (2023 Revision)". 
Data**: National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards (Revised 2023).The worse the balance
The higher the risk of death in the future
A study published in September 2022 in the British Medical Journal, a reputable medical journal:The performance of standing on one leg for 10 seconds** demonstrated viability in middle-aged and older adults, confirming a correlation between balance and mortality risk. People with poor balance may have a higher risk of death. 
The performance of standing on one foot for 10 seconds ** improved the viability of middle-aged and elderly people,**Reference 1 The research team first organized 1702 middle-aged and elderly subjects aged 51 to 75 years old to participate in the one-legged standing test, and the test results showed that the proportion of subjects aged 51 55 years old who failed the test was 47%；In the 71-75-year-old group, the proportion of participants who failed the test was as high as 536%！Subsequently, the research team conducted a study for a period of 416~9.Participants were followed over a period of 41 years, with a total of 1702 participants dying out of 123 participants, and after considering variables such as age, sex, BMI, clinical comorbidities (coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia), the researchers foundThe mortality rate of participants who failed the test was 84% higher than that of those who passed the test. Participants who failed the test also had poorer health during follow-up time, and had higher rates of diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and obesity, all of which also increased the risk of future death. In March 2021, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): The relationship between balance ability and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in American adults also found that people with poor balance ability have an increased risk of all-cause mortality and long-term mortality from cancer and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. 
Relationship between balance and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in U.S. adults **Reference 2 This study asked participants to stand on the ground, stand up straight with their feet together, and close their eyes for 30 seconds. The study found that among 40 to 49-year-old American adult subjects, 182% had balance dysfunction, a percentage that reached 50 to 33 of 64-year-old participants5%, and 61 in subjects over 65 years of age9%。After taking into account sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and chronic diseases, people with balance dysfunction still increased the risk of all-cause mortality by 44%, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular mortality by 65%, and cancer death by 37%. Balance
How does it affect the risk of death
Seeing this, we can't help but ask, why do people with poor balance have a higher risk of death? Balance is the body's ability to coordinate with stimuli from the vestibular organs, muscles, tendons, receptors in the joints, and vision, and is an ability of the body to maintain stability, which is very important for the body's physical coordination and responsiveness. The reason why the body can stand, walk, run, squat, sit, lie down, and get up all requires the support of balance. 
Gallery copyright**, the use of the key organ that may lead to copyright disputes to determine the body's balance ability is the vestibular organ in the inner ear, the brain nerve center is from the vestibular organ to obtain various information of the body in motion, whenever the body makes an action to break the balance, the nerve center will evaluate the stimulus, and command the bones, joints, muscles, etc. to respond in time, correct the actions that may disrupt the balance of the body, so as to maintain the balance of the body. Therefore,Balance ability reflects the function and sensitivity of various sensory organs of the body, the speed and accuracy of information processing by the central nervous system of the brain, the strength and coordination of the muscles of the body, and it is the embodiment of a person's comprehensive physical quality. Once the body's balance ability is reduced, it is difficult for the body to maintain balance, the risk of falling naturally increases, and the body is more likely to have various accidents. Falls are the number one cause of injury and death among people over the age of 65 in our country. This is because the elderly have low bone density and weakened muscle strength, and after falling, they are more likely to have traumatic fractures and brain injuries, and once the fracture occurs in the elderly, it is easy to lead to the aggravation of the original internal medicine system diseases, as well as cause complications such as urinary tract infection, bedsores, pneumonia, etc., and the risk of disability and death increases. 
Gallery copyright**, the use of which may lead to copyright disputes after the balance of the ability to decreaseIt means that the coordination of various parts of the body decreases, so the speed at which the body responds to external stimuli also decreasesIt is difficult to respond in a timely and rapid manner, which also increases the risk of various accidents in the body. Improves balance
Do these exercises
The body's balance is generally maintained well at a young age, and it doesn't fall off a cliff until after the age of 60**. Elderly people over the age of 60 can do some exercise to enhance the balance of the body. And if you are not yet 50 years old and can't stand on one leg for 10 seconds even with your eyes closed, then you also need to exercise urgently, otherwise after the age of 60, your balance will appear drastically**. To improve your balance, you can do the following exercises. The first thing that needs to be reminded again and again is,When doing balance training, you must ensure your own safety and avoid falling. If your balance is really not good, you need someone to be there to support you.
Movement 1: Stand on one leg
Open your feet, stand on the hard, flat ground, your arms are naturally flat to the sides, you can not close your eyes in the early stage, slowly change to not close your eyes in the later stage, lift one foot up, gently step on the other foot, or gently put it on the calf of the other leg, hold for 10 seconds - 30 seconds, and then switch to the other foot. If you have difficulty balancing, you can also hold your hands on a wall or chair. Practice 2-3 sets per day.
Movement 2: Advanced one-legged standing
On the basis of action 1, change the other leg that is not standing to do flexion, extension, posterior abduction, adduction and other movements, the speed and amplitude can be controlled less in the early stage, and the speed and amplitude can be increased in the later stage, the purpose is to increase the shaking of the body and further exercise the balance ability of the body in the exercise. Practice 2-3 sets per day.
Action 3: Turn in circles
You can turn in a circle, then stop, stand still for half a minute, and then turn in a circle. The speed of the circle can be slow to fast, the number of laps can be gradually increased from 1 lap, and the eyes can be opened to closed, gradually increasing in difficulty. 
Gallery copyright**, use may lead to copyright disputes
Movement 4: Core stability training and lower limb muscle strength training
In addition to the above-mentioned movements that specifically train balance ability, it is also necessary to strengthen core stability training and lower limb muscle strength training on a daily basis. For the elderly, tai chi, square dancing, and yoga are all good options for exercising balance. References
1]araujo cg, de souza e silva cg, laukkanen ja, fiatarone singh m, kunutsor sk, myers j, franca jf, castro cl. successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals. br j sports med. 2022 sep;56(17):975-980. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-105360.
2]cao c,cade wt, li s, et al. association of balance function with all-cause and cause-specific mortality among us adults. jama otolaryngol head neck surg. 2021mar 11. doi: 10.1001/jamaoto.2021.0057.
3] Seven institutions jointly issued the "Joint Tips for Fall Prevention for the Elderly" (2019.).6.17)：
Planning and production
This article is a work of popular science China-Star Project.
Produced by丨Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology.
Producer丨China Science and Technology Press***Beijing Zhongke Galaxy Culture Media***
Author丨Zeng Xinyue, creator of popular science.
Review丨Tang Qin, Director of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association, Researcher.
Planning丨Fu Sijia Lin Lin.
Editor丨Fu Sijia.