Is Exercise Worth the Time?

I have tried to keep up with the series of articles that have recently appeared in the KC Star related to aging. Most of the articles speak to the hardships related to aging. Most of the hardships involve increasing frailty, the loss of independence, the loss of physical function and the difficult decisions that have to be made regarding living environments. Those who choose to stay in their own home are often forced to make modifications to the home to allow for diminished physical abilities. Those who are more appropriate for some form of congregate living must balance their needs with their financial ability to pay for particular services.

These articles once again reiterated to me the importance of preventative wellness initiatives. They also triggered the business portion of my mind, causing me to attempt to put a value on a personal health and wellness program to see if it really pays to exercise. While there is no absolute formula to determine the financial value of exercise, let me at least propose a hypothetical situation that falls within my professional realm of experience.

Let's assume a 65 year old male decides that exercise is important and necessary for healthy aging. This decision leads him to begin a consistent exercise program that averages one hour a day, five times a week. He does this continually for 10 years of his life. It becomes part of his daily routine and it enhances the quality of his life and makes him feel generally better about everything that he does. He has less stress, more interaction with his grandchildren and he sleeps better. But does it make sense financially?

Let's also assume that, statistically, he is in the percentage of people who will end up in an assisted living facility or a skilled nursing home some day because of the loss of physical function. We will conservatively estimate that in ten years the cost of nursing care will be $70,000 annually. Our 65 year old male, in his ten years of exercise, spent approximately 2,600 hours exercising. His exercise program did not prevent him from going into a nursing facility, but it did delay him from needing that care for three more years. His savings, therefore, translated into $210,000 because of the delayed onset of nursing care. If my math is correct, his 2,600 hours of exercise saved him $210,000 and basically puts an hourly value on his exercise at $80.00 per hour.  (We could calculate a present value of his exercise based on a future return and be more accurate, but it would be a waste of all of our time.)

My point is fairly simple. Beyond the everyday benefits of exercise I do believe that there are financial benefits to exercise. As our nation deals with a health care crisis and we consider the increasing frailty of our aging population, we must change our mindset concerning the maintenance of our health. While my example is hypothetical, it is very well within the scope of possibility. My example does not even consider the possibility of the decreased need for clinical care or less dependence on medications through the ten year period. We simply must change our perspective toward our individual health and the health habits of our nation.