Many of us have been involved with sports and physical activities. As kids, we grew up playing outside, racing our bicycles and doing much more than just fun. These important activities taught us essential social skills like teamwork and leadership and helped us develop important physical abilities by honing gross and fine motor skills and also made us more athletic. Similarly, as adults, by choosing to join a running or cycling club, go for a daily walk or play a recreational sport, we significantly reduce our health risks, become more energetic and radiate positivity. get the feeling.
The World Health Organization lists physical activity (PA) as a developmental priority for youth and adults alike. Yet, as a society, we have focused attention and resources primarily on sporting excellence and elite athletes, not on recreational participation. It is time for a mindset shift. We must recognize that active living not only serves the individual, but it can also provide an adrenaline boost to India’s economy.
We already know that regular PA has been shown to reduce the risk of many non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These include some of the biggest health risks of our age: coronary heart disease, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, certain cancers and obesity. Among others, exercise has been shown to increase life span, enhance a sense of well-being and community, and increase productivity. Several studies have tried to value the contribution of PAs in helping us optimize the investments we make. For example, NCDs cause 71% of deaths worldwide each year, including more than 15 million premature deaths among those aged 30 to 69, and are estimated to cost the global economy between 2010 and 2030. The loss is estimated at $47 trillion. However, consistent PA benefits across all walks of life, age groups and genders could lead to an estimated positive economic impact of $1.2–1.7 trillion globally over that period.
India has a unique advantage. With its decades-long demographic dividend, it is well positioned to leverage such leverage among its population. Movement in this direction has already begun with an emerging policy shift that emphasizes holistic health, fitness, and PA. This includes encouraging yoga practice, traditional movement techniques and classical dance forms. To give an initial sense of what the benefits could be for India, our estimates based on global reports suggest that eliminating adult inactivity by 2047 could increase India’s GDP by up to $50 billion annually. Of this, an estimated $17 billion will result in improved health status, thanks to reduced spending on NCDs that currently contribute to about 66% of India’s annual mortality. The remaining $28 billion impact will be through productivity gains, thanks to reduced absenteeism among India’s workforce, especially in high-growth sectors such as IT, retail, textiles, etc. Clearly, we find that for every percentage point reduction in inactivity among adults in India, we can unlock about $1-1.25 billion in economic output by 2047.
Our $50 billion estimate of annual benefits reflects the sum of a wide range of benefits in health, productivity, business opportunities, social cohesion, and more, but is by no means comprehensive. Globally, such data are nascent and India-specific studies and data sets are too thin for us to go beyond these broad conservative estimates. The idea of quantization is to provide a sense of scale.
To move towards a national goal of universal participation in PA by 2047, our understanding of issues in the Indian context must be nuanced and reflect the realities of all its residents. For example, a significant portion of our population is engaged in physically demanding work (such as agriculture, construction, etc.), which may appear as physical activity, but is not necessarily always healthy. Work has to be done to get the right definition, develop measurable indices and parameters, as well as create a holistic and comprehensive framework to link sport and PA with socio-economic benefits. We must first prepare a data-based analysis of the current state of sports in India and ensure that no one is left out when we formulate policy.
Directly or indirectly, almost everyone benefits from the national level focus on this sector. Opportunities for after-school events can benefit working parents and teachers, while creating more motivated learners. Similarly, more active aging will help our aging population live better lives while reducing the burden of care on future generations.
It is commonly said that with exercise, it is important to start from where you are. Knowing where we are as a nation and a society will help us design and implement policies that take everyone along.
Physical activity for all should be a major goal for India by 2047. May our personal journeys shape how we achieve this ambition and engage everyone in the mission. This will ultimately decide the success of something that contributes immensely to our personal well-being and has profound economic benefits to an extent that we are only now beginning to understand.
These are the personal views of the authors.
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