Club Industry was not involved in the creation of this content.
SILVER SPRING, MD – January 3, 2019 – PHIT America is not the only group discussing the issue of physical inactivity and its negative impact on business, life expectancy, health care costs, academic achievement, and national security. Club Industry has jumped on that same bandwagon. The message is clear and concise: Get involved in reversing physical inactivity in the U.S. and don’t delay in being a part of the solution. Club Industry’s 52-page report – America’s Obesity Crisis and the Fitness Industry’s Role in Resolving It – features 17 different stories on various aspects of the overall physical inactivity and obesity crisis. It’s worth reading from beginning to end. Two of those editorial reports were supplied by PHIT America’s Jim Baugh and Mike May.
This overall report includes a well-written Editor’s Letter from Club Industry Content Director Pam Kufahl who asks anybody and everybody in the fitness industry to step forward and provide some type of assistance to solving physical inactivity in their own realm. Kufahl is accurate when she concludes by stating that a corporate response to physical inactivity in America will be “patriotic,” “humanitarian,” and “good business.”
“Club Industry recognizes the depth of the obesity epidemic in the United States, and even though health club memberships have increased in the past decades, the obesity rate has not decreased,” said Kufahl. “It’s obvious there is a disconnect between the fitness industry and the crisis. Either health clubs are not reaching enough people or they are not reaching the people who need the industry the most. The other possibility is that the industry is not doing all it could to help people lose weight and improve their health. This report was just one step in helping to shed light on the issue. We were excited to include commentary from PHIT America, which is also working on the issue from the activity standpoint.”
How Inactivity Is Hurting America and How the Fitness Industry Can Turn That Around is a Q & A with Baugh, PHIT America’s Founder. He gives some direct thoughts on the magnitude of the issue and what must be done to reverse physical inactivity in the U.S. Doing nothing is not worth
contemplating warns Baugh. While reading Baugh’s comments, you will find yourself nodding in agreement to the message from the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Famer.
The theme of May’s story – Reversing Physical Inactivity: The Sports and Fitness Industry’s Biggest Mission – is that the current state of physical inactivity is an opportunity for the sports and fitness industry to respond. Since less than ten percent of U.S. children are physically active to CDC standards, there are millions of children who need to get the message about the importance and power of being physically active. May, PHIT America’s Director of Communications, reveals that his group is busy sending that message to by providing PHIT America GO! Grants to elementary school P.E. programs around the U.S. To date, GO! Grants have been distributed to more than 600 schools, impacting the lives of more than 300,000 children. More PHIT America GO! Grants will follow in 2019.
PHIT America is playing another role in this ‘big-picture’ issue as it will be releasing a documercial in January that is both eye-opening and enlightening. The new PHIT America video – Creating Healthier & Smarter Kids – The Power of Physical Education – can be found on Videos.PHITAmerica.org. The 30-minute story is available now and a shorter version by early January. These videos are a ‘must-view’ by the fitness industry, P.E. teachers and parents of school-aged children. The expansion of P.E. in schools will be “patriotic”; “humanitarian”; and “good business.”
Founded in January 2013, PHIT America is a non-profit campaign focused on overcoming the severe ramifications of the ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ through four strategic approaches – education, supporting school-based activity programs, a national event and advocating – which will ge Americans, especially our youth, more active, fit and healthy. Companies or individuals interested in helping PHIT America fight the ‘Inactivity Pandemic’ should contact PHIT America at [email protected]. For more information about PHIT America, visit www.PHITAmerica.org.