Ross Edgley

~ The Health and Fitness Industry is now commercial and profit motive driven (The European Union believe the Free market is best to govern the health and fitness industry)

~ This has lead to:
(1) The health and fitness industry (gyms, personal trainers and fitness magazines) putting the desire for profit, ahead of peoples welfare and health
(2) The health and fitness industry (gyms, personal trainers and fitness magazines) targeting and catering for the wealthy, meaning the less rich are not considered or provided for (i.e. the C2DE demographic are not considered.)

As a result, people’s health is affected and obesity figures rise

Aims of Pimp My Health:

Educate:
~ To make health and fitness information free and accessible to everyone (especially the C2DE demographic)
~ To educate and empower people so they can take control of their own health and well being

Inspire:
~ To reduce the exercise drop out which exists post 16 years old and to get more people participating in sport and exercise

Theory:

Now I won’t preach to you about obesity but I took this from The Times Online,
“Obesity is linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart and liver disease and diabetes but in Britain nearly a 1/4 of adults and nearly a 1/5 of children are obese after increases in the last decade. It is predicted that 60 % of men, 50 % of women and 25 % of children could be obese by 2050 if action is not taken.”
(The Times, January, 2008, David Rose)

There have been a lot of suggestions regarding reasons for the rise in obesity but one that I believe has gone unmentioned is:

The commercialisation of the health and fitness sector because by becoming more orientated around profit, it’s theorised that:

(1) Gyms, personal trainers and fitness magazines/ websites (in general, not all of them) emphasise profit over the health of their consumer and use certain ‘ways/ devices’ that increase their money but decrease your knowledge and therefore health (prime example being ‘disempowerment’ – never fully educating you since you may become knowledgeable and no longer need their service/ magazine.)

(2) Gyms, personal trainers and fitness magazines/ websites (in general, not all of them) target only the wealthy (A, B, C1 demographic) not targeting or catering for the less rich (C2, D and E demographic)

Hence why Pimpmyhealth.co.uk was created and offers ALL its content for FREE, in the hope it educates masses of people (not just the wealthy but the C2, D and E demographic as well) and also helps combat the current problem that is global poor health.

That’s essentially the theory that underpins Pimp My Health, but for the academics amongst you/ or those of you that perhaps want to kill some time since there is nothing good on TV, I’ve written the same theory below in a little more detail and a little more technical.

The rise in obesity and decline in people’s health can be partly blamed on the health and fitness sector becoming more commercialised

The Government, Health Organisations and Scholars have all been documenting their findings regarding why over 50% of the adult population is now classified as overweight and more than 17% as obese (Prescott-Clarke and Primatesta, 1996.) The main 6 being medical theories, more sedentary lifestyles, readily available fatty foods, attitude of people, endocrine problems and lastly food addiction.

All credible theories that hold truth however one cause of obesity in this country that has gone unmentioned is the commercialisation/ privatisation of the health and fitness sector that was set in motion in 1989 when Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Government introduced Compulsory Competitive Tendering to the leisure sector. The New Right/ Thatcherite Policy aimed to bring greater efficiency to local government and health services through the use of competition and by embracing the ‘free market.’ She stated if a commercial gym could run the facility better than the council gym, they could take over the provision (hence why there are little to no council gyms left, they are all large corporate branded gyms.) Consequently with privately owned leisure facilities replacing the council run facilities, the emphasis of the leisure sector soon changed from public welfare (Council Run Gyms’ aim, who existed Pre-Thatcherism) to profit maximisation (Privately owned Gyms’ aim, existing Post-Thatcherism.)

This in turn attracted profit-motive driven entrepreneurs who saw the leisure sector as a means of making money. The profession of the personal trainer was created because people believed they could profit through instructing people with regard to health and fitness, and also the commercial health and fitness publication was created because entrepreneurs saw there was a demand for health and fitness information.

And therefore it is theorised the problem regarding the rise in obesity and poor health lies here:

(1) Gyms, personal trainers and health and fitness publications/ websites place a greater emphasis on profit rather than the consumers health and they implement certain ‘devises’ that increase their profits but to the detriment of their consumers health.

(2) Gyms, personal trainers and health and fitness publications/ websites target the wealthy (A,B,C1 demographic consumer) since this is where the potential to maximise profits lie. Therefore meaning the less affluent (C2, D and E demographic consumer) have no information regarding health and fitness (magazines and personal trainers too expensive) and also they cannot afford the provision of health and fitness (entry fees to gyms.)

Gyms, Personal Trainers and Health and Fitness Magazines:

- Gyms: Pre-Compulsory Competitive Tendering, leisure centres were run by Local Councils who charged a modest entry fee simply to cover costs. Post- Compulsory Competitive Tendering and now leisure centres are privately owned, commercial facilities that are solely there to make the owners money. Consequently as the price of attending the gym has increased, the more people become discouraged from attending and thus public health declines. Furthermore gyms ideally target the wealthy consumer (A,B,C1) since they have the income to spend on gym membership. The less affluent (C2,D, E) are not targeted since they don’t have the income.

- Personal trainers: A relatively new profession only really emerged once people realised they too could earn money through the commercialisation of the sector. Now it’s become so extreme, people have to pay extortionate prices simply to better their own health. Furthermore personal trainers instruct and give restricted information to clients, avoiding educating them so the client cannot devise their own diet and work out plans and thus are constantly dependant upon them (thus increasing their profit at the expense of the clients fitness knowledge and therefore health.) Highly contrasting to the staff at the Pre-CCT Local Council run gyms who were far less profit motive driven and would advise gym members for free. Furthermore once again personal trainers ideally target the wealthy consumer (A,B,C1) since they have the income to spend on personal training. The less affluent (C2,D, E) are not targeted since they don’t have the income and so cannot afford their services.

- Commercial Fitness Publications: Once again a relatively new phenomenon that has emerged once people realised there was profit to be made through the commercialisation of the fitness sector. However they never actually give you all of their information out in one issue, since then the consumer would have no need to continually buy their publication, therefore they partially educate you in the interests of making profit (a form of ‘disempowerment’ to ensure consumer ‘dependence’ and thus consumer continual purchasing of the magazine.) Furthermore their websites only serve to entice the consumer into buying the actual magazine, giving restricted information. Because ‘heaven forbid’ the consumer were to be educated for FREE. Also ideally they target the wealthy consumer (A,B,C1) since they have the income to spend on the publication and also it makes the magazine highly attractive to advertisers, companies wishing to advertise know that the magazines attracts wealthy consumers. The less affluent (C2,D, E) are not targeted since they don’t have the income to buy the magazine and advertisers don’t wish to target them

Global Comparison: