Physical activity has a beneficial effect on a wide range of illnesses, and is therefore a powerful strategy in containing health care costs. At the request of the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, the Conference Board of Canada recently calculated the annual reduction in health care costs resulting from an increase in physical activity. Three diseases were examined: ischemic heart disease, diabetes type II and colon cancer.

Health Canada's estimates of the direct cost of treating illness consist of four components: hospitals, physicians, drugs, and research. In 1993, these costs added up to $2.3 billion for ischemic heart disease, $572 million for diabetes type II and $255 million for colon cancer. In the same year, ischemic heart disease accounted for 21.8% of all deaths in Canada. Diabetes — types I and II combined — was responsible for 2.4% of total mortality, and colon cancer accounted for 2.2%.

Research has shown that less active individuals are 1.6 times more likely to contract ischemic heart disease than active individuals. Also, less active individuals are 1.2 times more likely to develop type II diabetes and colon cancer.

Based on this knowledge, the Conference Board examined the gross impact on annual health care costs of a hypothetical one-percentage-point increase in the number of persons who are physically active in Canada. This assumption is not unreasonable, given that between 1981 and 1995, the proportion of physically active Canadians increased by about one percentage point every year, from 21% to 37%.

According to the Conference Board, a one-percentage-point increase could potentially save $10.2 million for ischemic heart disease, $877,000 for diabetes type II and $407,000 for colon cancer each year (all figures in 1993 constant dollars). Not all these potential savings can be translated into actual savings, however. For example, an individual saved from ischemic heart disease due to increased physical activity may contract another disease that will have its own set of treatment costs. In addition, some medical treatment may change over time, becoming more expensive on a per-patient basis. As a result, even though fewer patients are contracting the disease, health care savings may not necessarily occur.

Despite this, savings may still be achieved. Moreover, other known benefits of physical activity — such as improved mental health — which were not quantified in the Conference Board study, may well yield significant savings of their own.

In the face of increasing medical costs, population aging and shrinking budgets, new ways of containing the costs of medical care need to be explored. Rediscovering disease prevention through regular physical activity as a means of reducing health care costs may well be a powerful strategy in that direction.