When the combined effect of immobility and increased sitting is added up, the cost rises to as much as € 5 billion a year. “It is possible to achieve the recommendations of exercise and still sit an absurdly much,” says Professor Tommi Vasankari.
Presence the cost to society is 1.5 billion euros a year, he says A recent study by the FAQ Institute with its partners.
In the past, the FAQ Institute has researched the immobility price tag. The present study examined separately the costs of both immobility and stationaryness, i.e., excessive sitting.
“It’s possible to achieve the recommendations of exercise and still sit an insane amount. It is also possible to sit relatively little, but to be physically passive, ”says the director of the FAQ Institute, Professor Tommi Vasankari.
The results and cost estimates between immobility and stationaryness take into account the fact that often both risk factors materialize simultaneously.
One and a half Of the total cost of € 1 billion, just over € 1 billion consists of invalidity pensions (€ 691 million) and access to health services (€ 346 million).
The rest of the expenses come from premature deaths, medications and sick leave.
When the same package of one and a half billion expenses is divided among the diseases caused by presence, the overwhelming number one becomes type 2 diabetes, which costs more than one billion expenses.
The cost of being present is about half the cost of immobility. Immobility is estimated to cost society € 3.2 billion. The total amount is approaching five billion euros.
“The figures are so large that it would already be felt in public finances if they were reduced by 10-20 percent,” Vasankari says.
Growing According to Vasankari, the reason for the costs is that society has become more and more passive. For example, school, work, travel, and everyday life are constantly going more smoothly in a sitting position.
“Everyday mobility has diminished. Before, the work involved more movement and self-propelled transport. ”
“Although more exercise may be practiced in your free time today, fewer people do physical work or have to use muscle power to warm up the house or do laundry, for example. Everyday life is easier, and it shows in many things, ”says Vasankari.
Things show up in all age groups, although the diseases typically break out in adulthood.
A previous LIITU study of children’s and young people’s physical behavior found that of the age groups studied, only seven-year-olds spent more time on the move than on the spot.
Adolescents were already almost ten hours a day, while at 16 hours of waking, half of the day would be eight hours.
Whereby could it be addressed then?
Vasankari says that good results have been achieved with lifestyle guidance and incentives, for example. In addition, decisions made in society have an impact on health.
“Society can be built to be more active in order to encourage mobility on its own.”
“For example, driving could be more challenging and driving on your own could be more attractive.”
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