Sport is good for your health but also for the American economy. A new US study from Johns Hopkins University shows that if young Americans were more physically active they would save substantial amounts of money. Supporting figures: $ 21.9 billion (approximately € 20.069 billion) could be saved in medical care if the rate of Americans aged 8 to 11 doing a minimum of sports went from 32% to 50%.
The minimum physical exercise is estimated at 25 minutes of activity three times a week for the authors.
In the review “Health Affairs”, the researchers go even further in their forecasts: if 100% of Americans aged 8 to 11 did 25 minutes of sport three times a week, the savings would climb to 62.3 million dollars (57 billion euros about).
Better still, this surge in physical activity would translate into better health for Americans with a significant drop in overweight and obesity in Uncle Sam’s country. 1.2 million young people would not be more overweight in the hypothesis considered by the researchers.
“Encouraging exercise and getting involved in sport when children are young has enormous benefits as they grow up,” says Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, director of the center. obesity prevention from Johns Hopkins University, cited by Doctor’s Daily.
The end of healthy meals in American canteens?
And in the opposite scenario? At the current rate, if no effort is made in terms of physical activity, the country would face 2.8 trillion dollars in additional medical expenses. The United States would have 8.1 million more overweight young Americans by 2020 …
It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration is ready to invest in anti-obesity policy. It is permissible to doubt this when the American President Donald Trump has just announced the end of the program initiated by Michelle Obama in the school canteens in favor of healthier meals, less rich in salt, fat and sugar.
In the United States, obesity is a real plague. It affects 40% of women, 35% of men and 17% of children and adolescents (source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2016).
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