Gyms to make members aware of alcohol’s impact on exercise and health

Fitness Industry Association - 05/12/2008

The Fitness Industry Association (FIA), working with the Department of Health (DH), has launched a new initiative to deliver the government’s Know Your Limits campaign to gyms and fitness facilities throughout England.  Over the next few weeks almost 500 FIA registered clubs have signed up to run the campaign, raising awareness among their members of the impact that drinking alcohol can have on health and wellbeing.  The clubs range from national chains such as Fitness First, Harpers and LA Fitness, to smaller chains and single sites such as the BBC Clubs and CYMCA.

Staff in participating clubs and leisure centres will be wearing “beer-belly” campaign T-Shirts and advising members on alcohol’s impact on health. Drink diaries will also be available to members so they can keep track of how many units of alcohol they are drinking in a week. Other educational materials include leaflets and posters.

Andree Deane, CEO of the FIA, said: “The cornerstone of the FIA’s philosophy is to help more people derive the health benefits from being more active, more often – a perfect complement to the DH’s healthy lifestyle strategy. This includes encouraging consumers to make informed lifestyle choices about what they eat, how much exercise they take and how much alcohol they consume because there is a library full of research which details the adverse immediate and long lasting impact of alcohol on a person’s emotional, psychological, physical and mental wellbeing.”

Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said: “Regular exercise is vital for keeping healthy, but if you’re drinking too much alcohol then you could be undoing all that good work.  As well as affecting your exercise performance, too much alcohol increases your risk of serious health problems further down the line.”

Key facts:

• A 250ml glass of wine or a pint of beer can contain about the same number of calories as a sausage roll
• A 250ml glass of wine (ABV 12%) and a strong pint of lager (ABV 5.2%) each contain 3 units of alcohol
• The government recommends that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units of alcohol a day and women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units
• If you have too much alcohol in the 24 hours before exercising you are more likely to develop muscle cramps
• Regularly drinking more than the recommended guidelines increases your risk of developing illnesses such as mouth, liver and breast cancer, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease