GETTING KIDS MOVING NOW SAVES BILLIONS LATER
-> Education Week reports fewer than 1 in 3 American children get enough exercise every week. If they don't get more active, more than 8 million will be obese by their 18th birthdays—and their health care and lost productivity as adults could cost the country close to $3 trillion, finds a new study in the journal Health Affairs. (Modeling The Economic And Health Impact Of Increasing Children’s Physical Activity In The United States: http://bit.ly/2pVwhfY) Researchers found fewer than 32 percent of children ages 8 to 11 get at least 25 minutes of strong physical activity at least three times a week. Using a computer simulation of all children in that age group nationwide, the researchers found that increasing the percentage of children who exercise regularly to 50 percent would cut the adult obesity rate and save nearly $22 billion in medical costs and lost productivity over their lifetimes. Getting at least 3 out of 4 kids active would save more than $40 billion. http://bit.ly/2pVvgEBfrom CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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