I arrive at the Jane Winstone Retirement Village fashionably late to join in a fitness programme run twice a week for their residents, and it's immediately apparent that I'm somewhat overdressed for the occasion.
About 20 elderly residents are standing in a circle tapping their toes and moving their arms up and down, wearing their usual clothes - polo necks, button ups, floral blouses - some of the women are wearing their jewellery. I, in my exercise pants, sneakers and hooded sweatshirt, feel as if I'm standing out like a sore thumb.
Squeezing into the circle I join in the movements, earning a few friendly grins from residents around me.
Oddly enough, I'm not the youngest one - 9-year-old Hera de Groot is here with her grandmother Shirley Wilson, 87. She's the youngest of Ms Wilson's seven grandchildren, here on a visit.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this fitness programme, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The circuit that instructor Sarah Tyler sent us on has a number of exercises targeting different areas. There's balancing, balloon-throwing, step-ups, weight exercises, and one that sounds deceptively easy - scarf-throwing.
My partner Mary Robson, 75, has to unleash her octopus skills to catch the scarves I'm throwing every which way. We're supposed to be juggling them to each other, but my co-ordination is a little off, and the scarves end up on the floor more than once in the 60 seconds we spend on that station.
I feel a bit better when we move on and I hear Hera with her partner insisting "I can do it! I can do it!" as she, too, drops all her scarves, but I then remind myself that I am an adult and she is 9. The elderly residents, of course, have the exercise perfected, but to be fair they've had about 80 years to practise.
By the end of the first circuit I've actually worked up a light sweat - though at my current level of fitness a brisk walk up the stairs is enough to do that.
Next we're sitting in the circle again stretching our legs against a piece of blue elastic. The exercise after that involves holding the elastic in front of us and stretching it back behind ourselves with one arm.
Ms Tyler tells us this will prevent "dinner lady arms." I don't know what dinner-lady arms are ... .
The lady next to me smiles as the next song comes on the stereo.
"Shirley Temple," she says.
Some of the other residents laugh and gesture at me. "She wouldn't know who that is," one says.
"I've heard of her," I mutter defensively.
Then we're off around the circuit again. This time I've got the hang of the scarf-throwing.
Ms Tyler informs me that the scarf-throwing is good for co-ordination, while other exercises in the circuit can help with balance, strength, and mobility.
The best exercise for the elderly in her opinion is a simple sit-down stand-up routine, because it strengthens their quads and helps them move around more easily.
"I loved stories like there was one lady, and her legs didn't really work very much. Within two months I had people coming up to me saying 'Oh, have you seen how her legs are working?"'
With an estimated median age of 85 taking part in her bi-weekly fitness classes, Ms Tyler said they had a wide range attending - including some people who were 97.
"It's not all backwards when you get older," she said.
"It's really important to make sure people are in the best shape they can be."
When the fitness programme began Ms Tyler says they had about eight people in total, but numbers have built over the past few years.
They now have about 14-20 participants each week.
"They really appreciate what we do for them," she said. "It's a pleasure, I love coming to work here."
My partner Mary Robson started doing the programme a couple of years ago - she's been at Jane Winstone for six years - and says the exercises were much better than she expected them to be.
Her favourites are step-ups and one where we throw a ball against the wall as many times as we can in one minute.
Jane Winstone isn't the only retirement facility getting their residents up and moving.
Nazareth Rest Home runs a daily controlled exercise programme according to clinical nurse leader Helen Ivory. Of their 46 residents, about half attend the programme.
"We actively encourage residents to do that and exercise in the grounds," said Ms Ivory.
Six other aged care facilities in the Wanganui region called by the Chronicle said they had exercise programmes for their residents - usually daily.
Figures from the latest Ministry of Health annual health survey show people in the age group of 65-74 have the highest obesity rate in New Zealand, at 39 per cent. The same survey showed that 48 per cent of people in that age group reported being physically active for at least 30 minutes a day, five or more days a week.
Care manager of Virginia Lodge, Marilyn Williamson, said sometimes obesity in the elderly was due to medications they were taking.
"They can try to slim down as much as they like but it might not work," she said.
Manager of Age Concern Wanganui Tracy Lynn agreed, saying it could be difficult if people were on medication that increased their appetite or killed their motivation.
"It's a huge impact," Tracy Lynn said.
She did not think obesity was a problem for elderly people any more than it was for other age groups.
"Elderly people are easy targets for things like the health budget expenditure," she said.
"I'm concerned that this is another dig at the elderly population.
"We are wanting to encourage respect and dignity for our elderly."
Professor Bevan Grant at the University of Waikato who worked on guidelines for physical activity for older people with the Ministry of Health said it was the "younger old" who were more likely to suffer from excess weight.
People past the 65-74 age group were more likely to suffer from malnutrition, he said.
"It's more to do with what you might call lifestyle at the young end of the older age group," Mr Grant said.
He said that age group was the "top end of the baby boomers", and had a "very different lifestyle" to those older than mid-70s.
Mr Grant didn't think obesity would be such a problem in rest homes, as those living in rest homes were in that older, malnourished age group.
Most people who were in retirement villages, on the other hand, were around their early to mid-70s he said.
In any case, he said, it was no more important for an elderly person to be engaged in physical activity than for a teenager to. "The body's made to move, doesn't matter what age it is."