Physically exercise make people loose weight and stay fit. Fitter people work better, are more productive and in better mood. This is a desireable asset for members of a society.
One way to encourage people to exercise is to set up a system of tax rebate for people who do sports or fitness.
It would be difficult to control the way people exercise. Membership to a sports club alone does not guarantee that people actually go there. A system of attendance card can always be counterfeited.
We could imagine testing physical performances of individuals every year, or every 3 years, and assess the progress achieved. For instance, the test could include such things as :
- running on a conveyor belt with an analysis of the cardiac rythm
- measuring the change in muscle mass, or fat-muscle ratio
- controlling the body weight
Testing the progress only would give an advantage to people who were not used to exercise before. So it would be better to have a benchmark for each criteria based on the gender and age.
People would obtain a tax rebate in proportion to their closeness to the "ideal fitness results" for their age and gender, but also based on progress made since the last year. This way, both people already fit and those trying hard to be fitter would benefit (no pun intended) from this system.
This also gives total freedom to people as to how to exercise, be it doing a particular sport, go jogging in the park, join the gym, or just do some press-ups at home. A better diet can also help.
The only ones not getting money in the process would be those who do not do anything to keep healthy.
The money spared by the government would most likely be gained back from a higher productivity nationwide, hence more corporate taxes, and maybe also a higher consumption (fitter people are more active, go out more, work more, get more money, spend more money...).
Just a proposal which I think is worth considering for governments across Europe. I am sure that President Sarkozy would appreciate.
One way to encourage people to exercise is to set up a system of tax rebate for people who do sports or fitness.
It would be difficult to control the way people exercise. Membership to a sports club alone does not guarantee that people actually go there. A system of attendance card can always be counterfeited.
We could imagine testing physical performances of individuals every year, or every 3 years, and assess the progress achieved. For instance, the test could include such things as :
- running on a conveyor belt with an analysis of the cardiac rythm
- measuring the change in muscle mass, or fat-muscle ratio
- controlling the body weight
Testing the progress only would give an advantage to people who were not used to exercise before. So it would be better to have a benchmark for each criteria based on the gender and age.
People would obtain a tax rebate in proportion to their closeness to the "ideal fitness results" for their age and gender, but also based on progress made since the last year. This way, both people already fit and those trying hard to be fitter would benefit (no pun intended) from this system.
This also gives total freedom to people as to how to exercise, be it doing a particular sport, go jogging in the park, join the gym, or just do some press-ups at home. A better diet can also help.
The only ones not getting money in the process would be those who do not do anything to keep healthy.
The money spared by the government would most likely be gained back from a higher productivity nationwide, hence more corporate taxes, and maybe also a higher consumption (fitter people are more active, go out more, work more, get more money, spend more money...).
Just a proposal which I think is worth considering for governments across Europe. I am sure that President Sarkozy would appreciate.