Sedentary lifestyles kill 88,000 people

(ANSA) - Rome, November 14 - Sedentary lifestyles are responsible for 14.6% of all deaths in Italy, equal to about 88,200 cases per year.
    They result in 1.6 billion euros in direct healthcare costs for the four pathologies that are most closely linked to them: breast cancer, colon-rectal cancer, Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. An increase in physical activity and healthier lifestyles would lead to savings of over 2 billion euros for the national health service in terms of specialist services, tests, hospital care and medicines, according to an Istisan report by Istituto Superiore di Sanità(ISS), the health ministry and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) presented on Wednesday. Only half of Italian adults get the recommended amount of physical activist and one child out of every four engages in games requiring physical movement only one day a week (for at least an hour). World Health Organization (WHO) data show that one in every four adults and 80% of adolescents do not get the recommended level of physical activity. In Europe, over a third of the adult population and two thirds of adolescents do not get enough exercise.