According to the research results published in Health Affairs by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on May/July 1 July, the exercise frequency of children aged 8 to 1 1 year-old increased slightly, which could reduce 340,000 obese and overweight teenagers. The researchers suggest that if all children aged 8 to 1 1 year-old in the United States exercise for 25 minutes every day and three times a week, they can avoid $62.3 billion in medical expenses and wage losses in their lifetime, and the number of overweight or obese teenagers can be reduced by 1.2 million.
Children's sports
"Participating in exercise activities not only makes children feel better about themselves, but also helps them form healthy habits, which is also good for the national finance." Bruce Y. Lee, executive director of Peng Bogong Global Center for Obesity Prevention, MBA, said, "Our research results show that encouraging exercise and investing in sports activities (such as extracurricular activities and youth sports leagues) in childhood will benefit children greatly when they grow up."
Studies have shown that the high body mass index (BMI) at the age of 18 is related to the high body mass index throughout adulthood, which will increase the subsequent risks of diseases (such as diabetes and heart disease related to overweight or obesity), thus leading to higher medical expenses and productivity loss caused by diseases. In recent decades, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has been increasing.
In this study, Bruce Y. Lee and his colleagues developed a computational simulation model using the VPOP (Virtual Population for Obesity Prevention) software platform to show how the change of exercise level affects the life of American children and its economic impact. The data of this model come from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) in 2005 and 20 13, and the National Health Statistics Information Center. In the second model, medical expenses and lost wages are calculated. This model examines the influence of exercise activities on people's lives.
The researchers also observed different degrees of healthy exercise activities. From the present 32% of children aged 8 to 1 1, they should exercise for 25 minutes three days a week until at most 100% do so. This is the guideline formulated by the sports fitness industry association. The researchers found that maintaining the current level of exercise activities will lead to 8,654,380+teenagers being overweight or obese by 2020, which will cause additional medical expenses and salary loss of up to 2.8 trillion US dollars in their lifetime. An overweight person's lifetime medical expenses average $623,365,438 +0, while his lost salary averages $93,075. For obese people, these numbers are even bigger.
Bruce Lee said, "Even if some activities are moderately increased, billions of dollars can be saved." The cost saved by exercise is likely to be underestimated, because there are other benefits that will not affect weight, such as improving bone density, improving mood and strengthening muscles.
Moderate fitness
"As the proportion of children suffering from obesity increases, the value of increasing physical activity will also increase," Bruce Lee said. "We need to increase physical education courses, not cut them. We need to encourage children to exercise more, reduce the time in front of the screen and make them lively again. This is very important for their physical health and the financial health of the country. "
According to the Wall Street Journal reported on May 30th, 20 14, a study by the Institute of Health Indicators and Evaluation of the University of Washington in the United States shows that the obesity rate in China has risen sharply in the past 30 years, resulting in 46 million adults being "obese" and 300 million people being "overweight". China has now become the second largest obese country in the world, and the number of obese people is second only to that of the United States. People in China are getting fatter and fatter, which will affect the future of children in China.