SYDNEY, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have found that physical inactivity cost the world some 67.5 billion U.S. dollars in health care and productivity losses in 2013.
The study by researchers at the University of Sydney, published Thursday, is a global estimate of the financial cost of physical inactivity.
Lead author Dr Melody Ding said the study, which examined direct health care costs, productivity loss and economic losses from disability-adjusted life years for five major non-communicable diseases, found the burden was disproportionate across the globe.
Higher-income countries such as Australia bare a much larger economic burden associated with physical inactivity (80.8 percent of health-care, 60.4 percent of indirect costs), whereas low and middle income countries face a larger proportion of the disease burden (75.0 percent of global disease burden related to physical inactivity).
"Generally, poorer countries don't have their health needs met due to less developed health and economic systems," Ding said, adding ultimately it's the poor households that pay the price through premature death.
"As these countries develop economically, so too will the consequent economic burden, if the pandemic of physical inactivity spreads as expected."
Thus governments of all persuasions should find ways to increase physical activity levels in communities as an important investment into healthcare savings measures and a more productive labor market.
"Our study makes the economic case for a global response to promote physical activity to tackle diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers, with the aim of reducing health inequalities," Ding said.
The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, is part of a four-part series examining the progress made in tackling the global pandemic of physical inactivity since the 2012 Olympics, which shows nearly a quarter of adults worldwide are failing to meet daily exercise recommendations.
