event review


EUROPE EUROPE


FOCUS


embracing the public


B


uilding credibility and expanding the remit of the fitness industry to truly include health: these


were some of the key topics being discussed at the third annual EHFA EU Associations Forum, which took place in London in November. An interesting keynote presentation


by Professor Dr Harold W (Bill) Kohl III, president of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health, asked what the fi tness sector could do to move closer to the health sector. He spoke of the separate evolutionary


paths of physical activity and public health – exercise science and public health science developing as distinct fi elds until 1953, when a study of London transport workers showed that sedentary bus drivers were more likely to die of heart disease than the more active bus conductors. Since then, he explained, we’ve developed an appreciation and understanding of the health benefi ts of exercise, with even a small amount of activity (equivalent to the familiar guidelines of ‘5 x 30’


moderate activity) now recognised to deliver substantial health benefi ts. The paradigm is therefore shifting: training for performance is now giving way to physical activity for health. Both models need to be acknowledged, stressed Kohl.


integrating with health And the European health and fitness sector is already moving forward and becoming “a leader rather than a token presence in the health agenda”, he said. However, as yet there are key areas such as health behaviour and ‘environment and policy’ – creating the conditions in which people can be active – which, according to Kohl, our sector doesn’t yet grasp as well as other industries, or as well as it ought. He outlined a number of best


practice projects going on in the area of public health around the world. In Curitiba, Brazil, the sheer size of the city leads to high levels of sedentary


Kate Cracknell reports from the recent EHFA EU Associations Forum


commuting. The city has therefore introduced outdoor gyms in parks, mass group exercise events and so on. Meanwhile, Heartmoves in Australia is a programme designed to get those living with a chronic disease into activity – but is currently not run in association with health clubs. Almost 50 per cent of the US population would fall into this ‘living with chronic disease’ group, said Kohl.


“So how can we get involved in these sorts of initiatives? We need to look at what’s going on in the public health sector and make it our own.” There are already bodies out there


that can help us: HEPA Europe, for example, which produces practical tools, guidelines and case studies to drive a better understanding of health- enhancing physical activity (HEPA), and which promotes partnerships with other relevant sectors such as transportation. The fi tness sector now needs to take


The credibility of the whole sector can be grown if we embrace public health and encompass all types of activity


76


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital


january 2011 © cybertrek 2011


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