New report highlights £53bn cost to UK economy of physically inactive young people

Physical inactivity among today’s 11-25 year olds will cost the UK economy £53.3 billion over their lifetimes, according to a new StreetGames/Cebr report – The Inactivity Time Bomb – published on Tuesday.

The main findings of the report were:

• Nearly half of all 11-25 year olds in England fail to achieve the Chief Medical Officer’s recommended targets for physical activity – over 4.5 million individuals.
• Overall, girls and young women are less active: 56% fail to meet recommended activity levels compared to 39% of boys and young men.
• Children of both genders from lower income households are less likely to take part in sport. They are less likely to take part in formal sports activities such as organised team games of rugby, cricket or netball, swimming, gymnastics, aerobics and tennis.
• The poorest households spend just a tenth of the amount that the richest households spend on sport activities, services and equipment each week.
• Each physically inactive young person costs the UK economy £12,000 over their lifetime.
• £8.1 billion of these costs are directly related to spending on healthcare that will be needed to deal with the burden of Type II diabetes, chronic heart disease, stroke and colon cancer among this cohort as they age. This equates to £1,800 in additional healthcare costs for each child and young person who is currently inactive, and is equivalent to more than half the total budget of NHS England in 2013-14.
• A 1% increase in the number of children and young people meeting physical activity targets could save £800 million in today’s prices over their lifetimes.

Read the full report here.

Jane Ashworth OBE, CEO of StreetGames, the national sports charity which commissioned the study, said: “This report lays bare the economic and social cost we will pay if we don’t get our young people moving. If we fail to address these issues it is akin to sitting on a time bomb.

“Helping young people in the most difficult circumstances take up a sporting habit for life is one of the most important things we can do.”

The Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Head of Policy, James Allen, commented: “This report is yet more proof that it is time to invest in physical activity.

“Our members, as the national governing bodies of sport and recreation, have a key role to play in tackling some of the most serious health issues that we face in this country.

“Helping children to form active habits and maintain physical activity throughout their lifetimes is something that we will be focussing on in our policy work at the Alliance.”

Read more Sport and Recreation Alliance news.

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