social responsibility
INFO PANEL 3: BODY CONFIDENCE AWARDS A
milestone for the APPG was the first ever Body Confidence awards, held at the House of Commons in April. The awards recognised efforts to promote body confidence and the acceptance of broader beauty ideals. The Central YMCA’s Sports, Health and Fitness Award was won by Virgin
Active for its ‘Oomph’ marketing campaign, launched in 2010 for Virgin Active South Africa, which was subsequently brought to the UK. The campaign shows real-life members talking about how Virgin Active helped them get their ‘oomph’. Steve Dick, Virgin Active sales and marketing director, says: “Being inclusive will
always be at the heart of our strategy. We pride ourselves on offering something for everyone. We’ll be sharing this news with members because they made ‘Oomph’ a reality; spotlighting real people and their achievements drives our passion.”
It also conducted a survey with the
Centre for Research Appearance to explore the attitudes of young people and adults around body image. It was found that young people believe that learning about the importance of sport and exercise (34.9 per cent) and having more support services in schools (34.5 per cent) would be the best way to promote positive body images.
Change the focus Health clubs and exercise professionals have a key role to play in the body confidence agenda. They are, for example, in a position to provide the school-based support identified by YMCA research: schools could be invited to special sessions at the gym, where issues around body confidence could be explored. The industry must also recognise that
much of its current imagery offers an unrealistic model. Marketing materials must use more diverse, representative, non-airbrushed images (see info panel 3).
Susan Rossetto, group health and
wellbeing manager at DC Leisure, says: “For decades, we’ve bombarded our populations with images of what is deemed by the media as being ‘beautiful’. These often do not reflect real people or the diverse society we live in. As an industry, we need to support campaigns for increasing body confidence. One way is to feature images of ‘real beauty’, so all ages, ethnicities and differently-abled people can relate to them and engage in activities to improve their health.” Miranda Wassenaar of Curves Europe
adds: “Curves’ philosophy is to create a community where ‘real women’ can share their experiences, reach their fitness goals and realise their own value and beauty.” The sector also needs to understand
and respond to a shift in the mindset of exercisers. Stalker explains: “A recent Eurobarometer survey found that, when people were asked about their motivations for exercise, ‘improving physical appearance’ was joint fifth,
52 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
The Campaign for Body Confidence,
launched on 8 March 2010, challenges unrealistic perceptions of body image
while ‘improving health’ was the main reason for 61 per cent of respondents.” Research has also shown that
adherence to an exercise regime is improved if the motivation to exercise is not based solely on body image. Gym and trainer talk should be focused on wellbeing and acceptance of diversity, rather than a preoccupation with weight and inch loss. Staff may well need to be trained and supported to challenge their own body image ideals. As Featherstone beautifully defined
the issue: “We need to challenge the culture of conformity and widen the definition of beauty. And we need to help people recognise that their value goes beyond their physical appearance.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debbie Lawrence is a freelance technical writer, teacher and consultant. She is the author of 12 health and fitness books, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, and writes regularly for a number of awarding organisations and fitness industry journals. She is also a qualified counsellor, delivering group workshops to promote and support mental health and wellbeing. Website:
www.debbiellawrence.com Contact:
info@debbiellawrence.com
june 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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