Just as carbon credits were created out of the thin air to create a financial incentive to mitigate global warming through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; perhaps exercise credits should be considered as a new type of health commodity to combat the growing obesity epidemic in the United States and other developed countries. According to
statistics (PDF) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (CDC.gov), only one state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20% last year while 30 states had a prevalence of 25% or more – resulting in both adverse
economic and
health consequences.
According to
World Bank statistics (PDF), in 2006 over $31 billion of carbon credits were traded and last year the total more than doubled to over $64 billion, representing the reduction of 3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the air. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, products are already available for trading economic (non-farm payrolls) and weather-related events (such as snow and hurricanes). Exercise credits would represent a new class of health commodities with the goal of providing individuals and organizations a financial tool to provide economic incentives which promote healthy lifestyles and combat the rapidly growing epidemic of obesity in this country and other developed countries around the world.
Programs and policies to implement the concept of exercise credits would not require individuals to make drastic lifestyle changes and start running 100 miles per week to run a marathon. Rather, a program based on consensus guidelines such as at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five times per week, including 15 minutes of strength training two times a week would yield health benefits without occupying large blocks of time. Exercise credits could be issued in trading units called ECRs which represent the total minutes of exercise per week for each participating individual that participates in the program. Contrary to the concept of carbon credits which represent a maximum level of greenhouse gas emissions, participating companies in an ECR trading scheme could establish a minimum level of exercise per person at 150 minutes per week.
The program would be well suited to launch in larger, proactive companies in the United States and other developed countries which offer their employees flexible schedules and other benefits such as on-site exercise facilities in order to monitor and track the ECRs for each employee who chooses to participate. A market would be established between participating companies who would either have excess ECRs to sell on the open market or be required to buy ECRs on the open market to make up for deficits. In this way, companies would have a financial incentive to encourage their employees to exercise regularly. Also, employees who volunteer to participate could be included to receive bonuses if their company is profitable in the ECR trading scheme. Advantages of implementing an ECR program through large employers include the ability to accurately monitor and report employee’s exercise time in a structured environment, restrict the ability of individuals to exercise excessively, and encourage activity in otherwise sedentary jobs.
The following public companies would likely be most interested and capable of implementing such a program given their expertise in health benefits management and administration. The first company is Healthways (HWAY), which provides services and programs designed to encourage disease prevention, health improvement, and disease management. The Company utilizes evidence-based clinical guidelines to design its programs and refers its members to appropriate healthcare professionals for support and training. Health benefits giant UnitedHealth (UNH) is another company in the industry with a division called OptumHealth which promotes personalized health advocacy and specialized health benefits. Finally, Inverness Medical (IMA) acquired Matria Healthcare earlier this year for its disease management and wellness programs.
