What is the cost of lack of physical activity in the U.S.?

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Monday, July 19, 2004 4:01 pm Email this article
The direct costs of lack of physical activity, defined conservatively as absence of leisure-time physical activity, are approximately $24 billion or 2.4% of the U.S. health care expenditures according to a recent paper (Colditz, 1999).

Less than one-third (31.8 percent) of U.S. adults get regular leisure-time physical activity (defined as light or moderate activity five times or more per week for 30 minutes or more each time and/or vigorous activity three times or more per week for 20 minutes or more each time) according to Barnes and Schoenborn (2000).

About 10 percent of adults do no physical activity at all in their leisure time according to Barnes and Schoenborn (2000).

REFERENCE

Colditz G. Economic costs of obesity and inactivity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Nov, 31(11 Suppl):S663-7.

Barnes MA, Schoenborn CA. Physical activity among adults: United States,  2000. National Center for Health Statistics. Advance Data. 2003;(333).

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