The University of Leicester has been looking at why we all walk around in leisure-wear nowadays. Is it because we are so sporty or because we now need an elasticated waistband [LINK].

"The booming fitness industry has done little to curb the obesity epidemic, according to leading academic researchers.

While gyms and private health clubs have grown in popularity in recent years, the nation's weight has grown too.

The reason for the paradox, they said, is that such clubs tend to attract wealthier people, leaving the less well-off struggling to find ways to combat weight problems." ...

"At the top end of the market, high income earners can afford excellent services and an enlightened approach to fitness, but at the bottom end of the market, middle and lower income earners can afford fewer and lower quality services and a factory approach to fitness. ...

But she argued that inactivity and obesity are problems for society as a whole and they require collective solutions.

"Physical exercise can be reintroduced as an integral part of everyday life, rather than yet another activity to be squeezed into an already shrinking supply of free time."

(Via University of Leicester Keep-fit boom fails to stem obesity | Press Office: .)

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| in the news | 9 November 2007; 2:02:46 AM |# | | |