| Dancing is something that humans do when they want to have a good time. |
| It's a universal response to music, found in all cultures. |
| But what's only been discovered recently is that dancing not only makes us feel good, |
| it's also extremely good for our health. |
| Dancing, like other forms of exercise, releases hormones, such as dopamine, |
| which make us feel relaxed and happy. |
| And it also reduces feelings of stress or anxiety. |
| Dancing is also a sociable activity, |
| which is another reason it makes us feel good. |
| One study compared people's enjoyment of dancing at home in front of a video with dancing in a group in a studio. |
| The people dancing in a group reported feeling happier, |
| whereas those dancing alone did not. |
| In another experiment, university researchers at York and Sheffield |
| took a group of students and sent each of them into a lab where music was played for five minutes. |
| Each had to choose from three options: |
| to sit and listen quietly to the music, |
| to cycle on an exercise bike while they listened, |
| or to get up and dance. |
| All were given cognitive tasks to perform before and after. |
| The result showed that those who chose to dance showed much more creativity when doing problem-solving tasks. |
| Doctor Lovatt at the University of Hertfordshire |
| believes dance could be a very useful way to help people suffering from mental health problems. |
| He thinks dance should be prescribed as therapy |
| to help people overcome issues such as depression. |
| It's well established that dance is a good way of encouraging adolescent girls to take exercise |
| but what about older people? |
| Studies have shown that there are enormous benefits for people in their 60s and beyond. |
| One of the great things about dance is that there are no barriers to participation. |
| Anyone can have a go, |
| even those whose standard of fitness is quite low. |
| Dance can be especially beneficial for older adults |
| who can't run or do more intense workouts, |
| or for those who don't want to. |
| One 2015 study found that even a gentle dance workout helps to promote a healthy heart. |
| And there's plenty of evidence which suggests that dancing lowers the risk of falls, |
| which could result in a broken hip, for example, by helping people to improve their balance. |
| There are some less obvious benefits of dance for older people too. |
| One thing I hadn't realised before researching this topic |
| was that dance isn't just a physical challenge. |
| It also requires a lot of concentration |
| because you need to remember different steps and routines. |
| For older people, this kind of activity is especially important |
| because it forces their brain to process things more quickly |
| and to retain more information. |
| Current research also shows that dance promotes a general sense of well-being in older participants, |
| which can last up to a week after a class. |
| Participants report feeling less tired and having greater motivation to be more active |
| and do daily activities such as gardening or walking to the shops or a park. |
| Ballroom or country dancing, both popular with older people, have to be done in groups. |
| They require collaboration and often involve touching a dance partner, |
| all of which encourages interaction on the dance floor. |
| This helps to develop new relationships |
| and can reduce older people's sense of isolation, |
| which is a huge problem in many countries. |
| I also looked at the benefits of Zumba. |
| Fifteen million people in 180 countries now regularly take a Zumba class, |
| an aerobic workout based on Latin American dance moves. |
| John Porcari, a professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Wisconsin, |
| analysed a group of women who were Zumba regulars |
| and found that a class lasting 40 minutes burns about 370 calories. |
| This is similar to moderately intense exercises like step aerobics or kickboxing. |
| A study in the American Journal of Health Behavior |
| showed that when women with obesity did Zumba three times a week for 16 weeks, |
| they lost an average of 1.2 kilos |
| and lowered their percentage of body fat by 1%. |
| More importantly, the women enjoyed the class so much |
| that they made it a habit and continued to attend classes at least once a week - |
| very unusual for an aerobic exercise programme. |
| Dance is never going to compete with high-intensity workouts |
| when it comes to physical fitness gains, |
| but its popularity is likely to keep on rising |
| because it's such a fun way to keep fit. |