It’s January and one of the number-one resolutions for people is to improve their health by becoming more active.
Not only does becoming more physically active benefit a person’s personal health, it has a myriad of spinoff benefits in terms of lowering health-care costs to the system as a whole.
Obesity and inactivity rates are continuing to climb and this puts an additional strain on already scarce health-care resources.
Countless studies have shown the benefits of regular exercise to a person’s health, especially when a sedentary lifestyle is on the increase both at home and at work. Indeed, sitting has been dubbed the new smoking.
The Government of Canada already has implemented a Children’s Fitness Tax Credit, which allows parents to claim a tax break on activities that improve cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, endurance, balance and flexibility.
Extending this program to adults is a natural next step.
The previous Harper government made such a pledge and created a panel to help design the credit. But it appears little concrete progress has been made since that time. It’s time for the new government to recognize the benefit of Canadians’ sweat equity. Rewarding those who contribute to lowering national health care costs would be an appropriate and effective incentive.
