EUROPEAN STRATEGY 80 E
uropeActive (formerly EHFA – European Health and Fitness Association) has embarked on an ambitious plan to reach
80 million fitness centre users across Europe by 1 January 2025 – a goal that will require an average annual growth rate of approximately 5 per cent. The rationale behind the adoption
of this target is based on evidence presented at the inaugural EHFF – the European Health and Fitness Forum held in Cologne, Germany, on 2 April – of the alarming rates of obesity, high levels of physical inactivity, endemic growth in lifestyle-related conditions and an ageing demographic profi le of citizens. All of these factors will combine
to bring devastating consequences if they are not addressed as a matter of urgency – hence EuropeActive’s goal of 80 million users. It’s an ambitious target – the European fi tness sector currently
MILLION MEMBERS
EuropeActive plans to grow usage of fitness centres to 80 million people across Europe by 2025. But how? Otilia Vlasov reports
represents 46,500 facilities, which help more than 46 million people reach their fi tness goals – but if the sector wants to contribute actively to overcoming the crisis in physical inactivity, it’s a vital one. Policy-makers and industry leaders
will be expected to play an increasingly important role in tackling the challenges to curb high rates of inactivity, and focus on how exercise, fi tness and activity can help to control chronic diseases.
Tapping new markets The Future of Health & Fitness – A plan for getting Europe Active by 2025 is a seminal book written by 13 leading academics and experts from seven European countries, which provides EuropeActive with the evidence and challenges it must consider if the fitness sector is to serve as a driving force in the promotion of health enhancing physical activity (HEPA) across Europe.
The recommendations put forward
in the book emphasise that the reasons behind physical inactivity are too complex to be solved by a simple ‘one size fi ts all’ solution. It stresses the need for sensible, targeted promotions; for an acknowledgement of the barriers to physical activity; and for the sector to work with a range of partners to overcome these barriers. In order to realise its full potential
and positively contribute to HEPA, the fi tness sector will have to build new partnerships in different areas, working towards better professionalising the sector to be able to work with more diverse population groups. However, although these actions will
Corporates are advised to improve staff canteen nutrition
take the fi tness sector into new areas, success will not be achieved without making use of new innovations and digital technologies. A detailed analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers from May 2013 shows that 141 million Europeans could improve their lifestyles with the full integration of mobile technology into the European healthcare system. Many obstacles will need to be
overcome for this to happen, however, as there remains inconsistency in mobile app certifi cation, in personal data protection across EU countries, and in the (often inadequate) level of involvement of healthcare providers in the integration of digital in the sector. And different target groups require
adapted digital strategies. While the younger generation is more ready to embrace the applications and gadgets designed to quantify their physical achievements, the mobile technologies that are available today – such as social media, gamifi cation, apps and augmented reality – do not typically overlap with
80 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital June 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ XIXINXING
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