Based on the fundamental reality of China’s aging population and the increasingly severe health problems among older adults，this study focuses on the health vulnerability of older adults to construct a structural equation model to investigate the impact of leisure and recreational participation on the health vulnerability of the older adults based on the data from 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey （CLHLS）. The results show that participation in leisure and recreational activities can directly alleviate the health vulnerability of the older adults and reduce their health vulnerability by improving the self-assessed health level. There are multiple intermediary pathways such as“leisure and recreational activity → health level →physical health vulnerability → mental health vulnerability”. At the same time，participation in leisure and recreation activities plays a more prominent role in alleviating the physical health vulnerability of urban older adults. It is more effective in alleviating the mental health vulnerability of the older adults in townships and rural areas. On this basis，the article proposes to focus on improving the aging construction of urban regional public leisure places，establishing psychological intervention systems for older adults in townships and rural areas，and improving the inclusive pension service system，therefore narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas.