health trends
In countries such as Holland (above) cycling is part of the culture, while Australia’s warmer climate (left) is conducive to outdoor exercise
found to be 58 per cent more likely to participate in sports than older people, while in Poland, younger people were 170 per cent more likely to participate in sports. With a rapidly ageing population in many markets, the need to offer new, more relevant forms of exercise is becoming more widely recognised: New York City has created playgrounds specifically for adults, for example.
Country % inactivity India
14.
Vietnam Kenya
Ethiopia
Netherlands Zimbabwe Russia Poland
Indonesia Germany China France Canada Mexico Algeria
Australia Colombia US
Brazil
South Africa Spain
Ireland Turkey Italy
Japan UK
Saudi Argentina
14.9 15.4 17.9 20
21.7 22.6 28.5 29.9 30.4 30.6 33
35.7 37
39.2 40.3 42.7 43.2 48.6 51.1 52.1 54.1 54.6 56.6 65.3 66.5 66.8 68.9
Less active
High proportion of manual labour, naturally more active country
physical activities Some countries have stronger cultures of physical activity than others, or are more engaged with specific sporting forms. Many Middle Eastern countries do not place a high cultural importance on sport or physical activity, and in many African countries, being overweight can be a sign of affluence and status, lessening the incentive to reach a healthy weight. Physical activity has
2
Physical activity encouraged in childhood education and encouraged through all ages, high cultural importance placed on sport.
Lower levels of manual labour, urbanisation/
convienience, low promotion of physical activity in schools, less active country
Women restricted to exercise, high temperatures/climate not suitable for exercise
Look at factors in combination to explain activity levels
always been seen as important in China, where youngsters are encouraged from an early age to participate in sports and exercise regimens: morning exercise drills are a regular part of school life right up to senior secondary school. One 2008 survey found Chinese consumers were globally the most interested in sport – 87 per cent said they were very/fairly interested in sport. This is set to increase further, as it’s increasingly recognised that status and success can be gained from being a sports player. Indeed, some parents in China are now prepared to spend up to 300,000 yuan (US$43,940) on golf lessons for their children. The Olympic medals board is testament
68 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
Culture shapes the type of engagement people have with sport and specific
to the current surge of aspiring young Chinese sports players, who act as role models for younger ones. In India meanwhile, compared to
Western countries, there is a low level of emphasis on sport. Cricket is huge, but this is often at the expense of other sports and activities that don’t get a chance to be offered or celebrated. “We don’t have a sporting culture in the country. Most parents wouldn’t want their children in sports. Sports in India is still a social activity. The country requires a conscious effort to promote sport,” says Indian Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra. By comparison in Russia there is a
great focus on, and appreciation of, great sporting achievement and the discipline of sport – though this can mean a fixation on high achievers, with less attention paid to the less able or to a wider celebration of activity among the population.
In some places, physical activity is culturally celebrated via high levels of spectatorship of some sports – but with actual participation levels remaining low. In Anglo-Saxon countries, there is
3
more of a universal culture of sports spectatorship: there are fairly high levels of engagement with sport in the UK and US. But this is focused on spectatorship, with actual participation low: over 80 per cent of US consumers are very/fairly interested in sport, yet only 40 per cent of these actually engage in sport – one of the lowest rates globally. The reverse can also be true – in China, physical activity and sports
october 2012 © cybertrek 2012
Cultures have a different focus on sports participation versus spectatorship
MARIDAV /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
DIEGO CERVO /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100