Cost of Physical Inactivity in Nova Scotia: The Myths versus the Facts
Publisher/Sponsor:
Recreation Nova Scotia (RNS)
It is estimated that physical inactivity costs the Nova Scotia health care system $66.5 million a year in hospital, physician and drug costs alone, equal to 4% of total government spending on these services. When all direct health care costs are added, including private expenditures, a sedentary lifestyle costs Nova Scotians $107 million a year in direct medical care expenditures. This spending is currently added to the provincial Gross Domestic Product and economic growth statistics, and is thus mistakenly taken as a sign of prosperity and progress. The Genuine Progress Index counts this spending due to physical inactivity as a cost - not a gain - to the economy. Physical inactivity costs the Nova Scotia economy an additional $247 million each year in indirect productivity losses due to premature death and disability. Adding direct and indirect costs, the total economic burden of physical inactivity in Nova Scotia is estimated at $354 million annually.More than 700 Nova Scotians die prematurely each year due to physical inactivity, accounting for 9% of all premature deaths. These premature deaths result in the loss of more than 2,200 potential years of life every year in the province before age 70. In other words, if all Nova Scotians were physically active, the province would gain 2,200 productive years of life each year, with corresponding gains to the economy.If just 10% fewer Nova Scotians were physically inactive - that is, if the rate of physical inactivity were 56% instead of 62% - the province could save an estimated $4.6 million every year in avoided hospital, drug, and physician costs, and $7.5 million in total health care GENUINE PROGRESS INDEX 3 Measuring Sustainable Development spending. Added to an estimated $17 million in productivity gains, total economic savings to Nova Scotia from a 10% reduction in physical inactivity amount to $24.7 million.
Publication Date:
2002
Links