Having a beer and a game of billiards keeps men active in old ages, researchers said

If ever there was an excuse for a man to head to the pub, then this is probably it.

Billiards and beer help combat the ageing process - and should actively be encouraged, say health experts.

Researchers say enjoying a pint or a tipple while playing billiards helps keep men over the age of 70 active.

The game - often associated with booze, dusty bars and working men's clubs - provides pensioners with the perfect exercise because of its long periods of rest between activity, according to the study.

The study's author, Aske Lassen, even said 'billiards and beer' should be included in the official policy papers on 'active ageing' issued by the World Health Organisation and the European Union.

He carried out field work in two activity centres for the elderly in Copenhagen, Denmark, where up to one in 15 men between the ages of 70 and 95 meet to play billiards four times a week.

Mr Lassen, a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen's Centre for Healthy Ageing, said: 'Playing billiards often comes with a certain lifestyle, drinking beer and drams for instance, and I am quite sure this was not what WHO and EU meant when they formulated their active ageing policies.

'But billiards does constitute active ageing. Billiards is, first of all, an activity these men thoroughly enjoy.

'That enhances their quality of life while immersing them in their local community and keeping them socially active.

'And billiards is, secondly, very suitable exercise for old people because the game varies naturally between periods of activity and passivity - and this means the men can keep playing for hours.

'Not very many old people can endure physical activity that lasts five hours, but billiards enables these men to spread their physical activity out through the day.'

He said that 30 years ago, the elderly were not expected to be active at all and were actually advised not to exercise as it was considered dangerous. Playing cards was seen as more fitting.

Mr Lassen added: 'Today, we are all expected to live active, healthy lives until the day we die, remaining in good health at the age of 90.

'Old age has, in a sense, been cancelled. I compare the EU and WHO perceptions of ageing with the everyday activities I have observed among the elderly.

'The elderly do a lot of things, which I consider active ageing and which give them an enhanced quality of life, but they are also activities that would never be characterised as 'healthy' by health authorities.

Billiards is often associated with booze, dusty bars and working men's clubs , but it provides pensioners with the perfect exercise because of its long periods of rest between activity

'The question is how we define 'good ageing' and how we organise society for our ageing generations.

'We therefore need a broader, more inclusive concept of healthy and active ageing that allows for the communities the elderly already take part in and that positively impact their everyday lives, quality of life, and general health.'

He added it was important not to group all elderly people together.

Activities that for some seem insurmountable will be completely natural for others, he said.

According to Mr Lassen, another one of the positive side effects of the activities at the centres is they take the elderly's minds off illness.