America needs Parks and Recreation, more than ever - Tip-Off - Brief Article

Parks & Recreation, August, 2003

Only one out of five Americans is physically active, either at work or play, according to a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What's worse, a quarter of all Americans report they do nothing to get their heart pumping. Partly as a result, the treatment of illnesses related to obesity costs America $93 billion a year, rivaling the financial toll of smoking-related disease, according to a recent study. Health care for overweight and obese individuals costs an average of 37 percent more than for people of normal weight, adding an average of $732 to the annual medical bills of every American, the study found. In addition, an obese Medicare recipient spends on average $1,500 more on medical care each year than a non-obese senior.

"There has been a debate about whether obesity is a personal or societal issue and whether the government has any business being involved," says Eric Finkelstein, one of the lead authors of the study and a researcher at RTI International, a nonprofit think tank in North Carolina. "The fact that the government, and ultimately the taxpayer is financing half the economic burden of obesity suggests that the government has a clear justification to try to reduce obesity rates."

As lawmakers face rising deficits, park and recreation professionals need to emphasize how their work helps to turn around these depressing statistics and, ultimately, save taxpayers money. Taxpayers certainly know that's the cast--according to a recent survey for the American Public Health Association, 75 percent of adults believe parks and recreation are essential to fighting obesity. With your help, NRPA will continue to work to help policymakers reach the same conclusion.