The effects of lack of physical activity on health have a cost and it is high! So how can we reduce this bill, how can we better promote physical activity, should it be more systematically prescribed? Answers with Professor François Carré, cardiologist and sports doctor at Rennes University Hospital.
- The promotion of physical activity has been declared a major national cause for 2024 in France.
- The effects of a sedentary lifestyle on the country’s economy amount to 135 billion euros.
- 95% of French people do not have sufficient physical activity to preserve their health.
“All doctors should ask their patients if they move like they ask them if they smoke!”. This is the injunction launched by Professor François Carré, cardiologist and sports doctor at Rennes University Hospital a few weeks before the “Physical Activity-Health” 2024 world congress, which is to be held in Paris from October 21 to 24. An event which will contribute to the promotion of physical activity on the occasion of the Paris Olympic Games such as the “30 minutes of daily physical activity” operation launched in schools since 2022 to fight against a sedentary lifestyle.
“The effects of a sedentary lifestyle represent 60 to 70% of the health budget”
A sedentary lifestyle which, beyond its deleterious effects on health, represents the exorbitant cost of 135 billion euros per year for France! “Developing physical activity is an essential need: chronic diseases linked to a sedentary lifestyle represent 60 to 70% of the health budget”, specifies Professor Carré. Certainly, strictly medical costs -sAccording to WHO estimates, physical inactivity is the cause of 5% of the burden of coronary heart disease, 7% of type 2 diabetes, 9% of breast cancer and 10% of colon cancer. represent only 15 to 20 billion euros but we must add the bill for the consequences of pathologies associated with a sedentary lifestyle on economic activity such as absenteeism from work or the early end of professional careers.
30 minutes of physical activity per day
The solution ? That everyone commits to practicing 30 minutes of so-called “dynamic” physical activity every day, that is to say of a moderate or high intensity. We are far from it! According to ANSESonly 5% of French adults have sufficient physical activity to be protective, women being much more cautious than men: 70% of them are below all activity levels identified for good health, compared to 42% of men. “If nothing changes, in two or three generations, parents will see their children die before them with an increase in heart attacks at the age of 20!”warns Professor François Carré.
The prescription of physical activity authorized since 2017
The role of doctors on this subject is essential. Even if the prescription of physical activity has been authorized since March 2017, it is not obligatory and it is often considered insufficient. “Many colleagues don’t believe it…”, laments Professor Carré. And the difficulty for patients to integrate this habit into their daily lives combined with the fear of a cost to their budget contribute to the persistence of too much sedentary lifestyle. Moving is however renowned as being the most effective medicine… and most often free!
Physical activity, “a great national cause”
So, will physical activity, declared a major national cause for 2024 by the President of the Republic, benefit from the “Olympic Games” effect and will it be given the means to develop? “One euro invested in physical activity is 1.7 euros saved for the French economy”underlines Professor François Carré who dares to draw a parallel with what has been undertaken on road safety: “When cars caused the deaths of 15,000 people per year, the authorities acted because it was too much. Did we hear that about sedentary lifestyles?”.
