NEW YORK (Reuters) - The global economy could improve by as much as $ 100 billion a year if employers succeed in encouraging their workers to follow the World Health Organization's guidelines on exercise, a new study shows.
A study of the impact of physical activity on economic performance by Vitaly Medical Insurance Group and the RAND Europe Research Center found that walking an extra quarter of an hour or running lightly a kilometer a day each day would boost productivity and increase life expectancy, ultimately leading to improved economic growth. Reuters.
The improvement in the economy will result from a decline in mortality, which means that more workers will survive and contribute to the economy for longer, as well as a reduction in sick days, the study authors said.
Hans Bong, president of the RAND Europe Center, said the study highlighted a "strong relationship between immobility and shrinking productivity" and should give policymakers and employers "a new perspective on how to boost productivity."
WHO recommends that all adults exercise at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. Nearly 40 percent of adults in the United States, 36 percent in Britain and 14 percent in China are doing very little exercise, the group found in a study released last year.
Part of the RAND and Vitaly study is based on data from about 120,000 people from seven countries. The study envisaged the economic benefits of increased physical activity globally and in 23 individual countries.
The study found that if all workers between the ages of 18 and 64 exercised for an extra quarter of an hour a day, it could boost global economic production by about $ 100 billion on an annual basis.
It also found that the life expectancy of those over the age of forty who are not physically active may increase 3.2 years on average if they exercise light running for 20 minutes a day.