Lazy Americans weigh on health care system costing hundreds of billions
Turns out being inactive isn’t just bad for your health, it’s bad and costly for the entire health care system.
Exercising less than government recommendations costs the health care system $117 billion each year, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services, which said 10 percent of all premature deaths can be attributed to inactivity levels.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, obesity rates in America resulted in medical care costs totaling $147 billion – and that was as of 2008. Each obese individual produced costs ranging from $79 to $132. Medical costs for obese Americans are estimated to be about $1,429 higher than people of normal weight.
Between 2015 and 2016, 93.3 million U.S. adults were considered obese.
Only twenty percent of Americans are currently meeting the government’s recommended guidelines for exercise, according to HHS, including 26 percent of men, 19 percent of women and 20 percent of adolescents.
The government recommends that adults get 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week, including two days of muscle strengthening. Children between the ages of 6 and 17 should get an hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day.