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Healthcare costs later in life were significantly lower for adults who maintained moderate or high physical activity levels, according to a new analysis of claims data linked to the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons (NIH-AARP) Diet and Health Study.

The study, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, examined various levels of participation in physical activity throughout adulthood and how activity affected Medicare claims.

Among the findings: Exercisers with a moderate level of activity had healthcare costs $1,200 a year lower after age 65 compared with adults who were consistently inactive from adolescence into middle age. (Moderate exercise involved walking or otherwise being in motion for a few hours most weeks.)

The health costs of those with a high level of activity were $1,350 lower per year. But even late starters benefited: Waiting until middle age to increase activity still led to cost reductions of $824 per year.

Adults who increased physical activity levels in their 20s experienced the most dramatic reductions in health costs: $1,874 lower per year. Even if some of those exercisers decreased activity during middle age, reducing how often they worked out in their 40s and 50s, they still spent about $860 less on healthcare per year than people who were sedentary for most of their lives.

Participation in physical activity was associated with lower risk for several diseases, including cardio­vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, dementia and several cancers, as well as lower risk of premature death.

© The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC