Exercise between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. That’s it. If every sedentary American exercised 30 minutes per day, 5 days per week during the holiday season, we could probably reduce health care expense in this country by 15%, maybe more. A brisk walk is all it would take.
Where am I getting this? An article by Kevin Hassett of Bloomberg news. On average, Americans gain 1.0-1.4 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s that they don’t lose. This is primarily because most Americans consume considerably more calories during the holidays, but burn the same number of calories they normally burn. If the average American gains 1.2 pounds per holiday season, a slim 25 year old will have added nearly 50 pounds of excess weight by the time he is 67. Data seems to confirm this. The average 20-something male weighed 164 lbs in the 1960s. 40 years later those same average men weighed 192 lbs. The outlook was similar for women.
What’s interesting is that these are the same trends in mean weight gain that define America’s growing obesity problem (no pun intended). Annual medical costs for obese individuals are, on average, $1000 more than those for non-obese people. Hassett cites a 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – almost half of all Medicaid and Medicare costs are now obesity-related…and climbing. “This health burden is paid for by everyone. Society is engaging in a large transfer of resources from individuals who exercise and watch what they eat to those who, in many cases, do not.”
A simple solution to this problem? Exercise during the holidays. That’s it. You don’t even have to make it a year-round thing. Burn enough extra calories during the holidays to cancel out the extra 2400 or so you consume. Obesity will drop, people will have more energy, life expectancies will increase, and billions will be saved.
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