Research conducted by academics at LSE, Harvard, and German institutions analyzed over 26,000 interviews to evaluate the impact of the London 2012 Olympics on residents' health. While there was a small uptick in physical activity and decreased alcohol and tobacco consumption during the Games, these positive changes vanished within 100 days after the Olympics concluded. The findings challenge claims that the Olympics foster lasting improvements in health behaviors, suggesting instead that any boost is temporary and predominantly experienced by previously inactive individuals.
There was an increase in physical activity by six percentage points among the most inactive people in London... However, within 100 days of the Olympic flame being put out, all that good stuff had disappeared.
Grand claims from politicians about the Olympics having a lasting impact on healthy behaviours do not hold up to reality. Once the event ends, those behaviours fade quite quickly.
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