Obama starting to creak

Like most Americans of a certain age, President Barack Obama is starting to complain about the aches and pains of getting older.

Obama told retired National Basketball Association star Charles Barkley in an interview that aired on Sunday that he was limiting his basketball playing to about once a month because "things happen".

"You just get a little older and creakier. You've got to start thinking about elbows and you break your nose before a State of the Union address," the 52-year-old president said in the interview broadcast before an all-star basketball game.

Discussing the ageing process during an exchange about his signature healthcare reform law, Obama said that, being past 50, "you wake up and something hurts and you don't know exactly what happened".

Obama said he was enjoying watching his 12-year-old daughter Sasha play basketball. When Barkley commented that he struggled watching his own daughter play because he wanted her "to be really good", Obama said: "I think it's a difference if you're a Hall of Famer. You probably have a higher standard than somebody who was a good high school player."