Another reason to urge kids to go out and play

The time children spend on the playground or engaged in sports isn’t just fun – it produces real health and economic benefits, too.

Even a modest increase in physical activity for children ages 8 to 11 would result in big drops in obesity and health care costs, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Today, 32 percent of elementary school children in the United States participate in at least 25 minutes of physical activity three times a week. If every elementary school student had access to the same or greater level of calorie-burning physical activity, the nation would save an estimated $62 billion in medical costs and lost wages over their lifetimes, according to the research. An estimated 1.2 million fewer youths would be overweight or obese.

“Our findings show that encouraging exercise and investing in physical activity, such as school recess and youth sports leagues, when kids are young pays big dividends as they grow up,” said Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, executive director of the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins.

More details about the study were published in the journals Health Affairs and Science Daily. Voices for Affordable Health focuses on high-quality, affordable care. Sign up for our email updates.