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Exercise Lowers Employers' Health Costs

Companies can save millions in health-care costs simply by encouraging their employees to exercise a little bit, researchers reported on Friday.

They said obese （肥胖的） employees had higher health-care costs, but lowered those expenses by exercising just a couple of times a week M without even losing any weight.

Feifei Wang and colleagues at the University of Michigan studied 23,500.workers at General Motors.

They estimated that getting the most sedentary （惯于久坐的） obese workers to exercise would have saved about $790,000 a year, or about 1.5 percent of health-care costs for the whole group.

Company-wide, the potential savings could reach $7.1 million per year, they reported in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Of the whole group of workers, about 30 percent were of normal weight, 45 percent were overweight （超重的）, and 25 percent were obese. Annual health-care costs averaged $2,200 for normal weight, $2,400 for the overweight, and $2,700 for obese employees.

But among workers who did no exercise, health-care costs went up by at least $100 a year, and were $3,000 a year for obese employees who were sedentary.

But adding two or more days of light exercise —— at least 20 minutes of exercise or work hard enough to increase heart rate and breathing —— lowered costs by on average $500 per employee a year, the researchers found.

"This indicates that physical activity behavior could reduce at least some of the harmful effects of excess body fat, and in consequence, help lower the health-care costs," Wang and colleagues wrote.

11 How can employees help lower the health-care costs?

A By taking more rest.

B By eating less.

C By exercising a little bit,

D By saving more money.

12 By encouraging its employees to exercise General Motors could save

A $790,000 per year.

B $7.1 million per year.

C $3,000 per year.

D $7,300 per year.

13 How many workers in General Motors were NOT of normal weight?

A Seventy percent.

B Thirty percent.

C Forty-five percent.

D Twenty-five percent.

14 For which group of the workers were the health-care costs the highest?

A The employees of normal weight.

B The overweight employees.

C The obese employees.

D The sedentary obese employees.

15 How often should the employees exercise to help lower the health-care costs?

A At least seven days a week.

B At least twenty minutes a week.

C At least twice a week.

D At least once a week.

【参考答案】11. C 12. B 13. A 14. D 15. C