Physical Activity: Health benefits and costs to health care system

Physical Activity is a critical public health issue for Canadians. Physical activity helps prevent certain chronic conditions, including heart disease, hypertension, stroke, type II diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, depression, or reduced functional ability with older age.

The constellation of unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and excess body weight is a powerful determinant of cancer risk. The International Agency of Research on Cancer attributes about one-fourth to one-third of cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney and uterus to excess body weight and physical inactivity. The American Cancer Research estimates that about 30 % to 40% of all cancer cases could be prevented over time by a combination of following recommended diets and maintaining physical activity and appropriate body weight.

Canada’s Health Care spending was estimated at $121.4 billion dollars (10% of the Gross Domestic Product of Canada) in 2003, up from $84 billion spent in 1998.

The total cost of illness in Canada in 1998 is estimated to be $159.4 billion: $83.9 billion (52.7%) in direct costs and $75.5 billion (47.3%) in indirect costs. Cardiovascular diseases is the most costly diagnostic accounting for 11.6% ($18.5 billion) of the total cost of illness. The economic burden of illness for Ontario is $56.6 billion, Quebec $36.1 billion, and British Columbia at $22.2 billion, account for approximately 70% of the economic burden of illness in Canada in 1998.

Current estimates place the cost of physical inactivity in Canada at 5.3 billion ($1.6 billion of direct costs and $3.7 billion in indirect costs) and the cost of obesity in Canada at $4.3 billion ($1.6 billion of direct costs and $2.7 billion of indirect costs) in health care expenditures.

Physical Activity is one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve the objective of having a healthier population, physically and mentally. The prevalence of physical inactivity in Canada has a significant impact on public health care costs. The public health burden of physical inactivity can be measured in terms of premature death, reduction in quality of life due to chronic diseases and conditions, and the economic cost of treating these diseases. If Canadians were to become more active, there would be:

• 26% fewer deaths from type II diabetes;
• 20% fewer deaths from colon cancer; and,
• 22% fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease