Getting your loved ones, your friends and family members, or your coworkers to join you in losing weight or getting stronger can seem like a waste of time. Changing habits, learning new things and becoming proactive about their health are some of the toughest things for people to do. More and more research, however, is reinforcing the many and varied benefits good health has on everyone.

In an article titled, “[1] How Much Does Physical Inactivity Cost You?,” Entrepreneur.com provides a link to East Carolina University’s [2] Physical Inactivity Cost Calculator. ECU combined research on medical costs, workers’ productivity and workers’ compensation to create this tool useful for quantifying the benefits of a healthy team or community. The calculator computes dollar amounts representing the total costs to a business or community, the per-person cost, medical care, workers comp and lost productivity costs, and the potential savings if only 5% of the group became more active!

Using Census.gov [3] Factfinder data for the Blue Bell area, this is what the numbers look like:

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What could your community do with $2.6 million? The state of Pennsylvania could save $942 million per year- imagine the programs that could benefit from that kind of money! Corporations can run this calculator too- partnering with your local IM=X Pilates Studio franchise for special group rates can be an inexpensive way to cut down on healthcare costs among employees. Don’t underestimate the importance of team building in small-group exercise classes, either- but that’s a topic for another time.