Gyms
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered formally recognising gyms and fitness facilities as part of the wider preventative health infrastructure.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
Addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth.
The leisure and fitness sector play an important role in supporting the Government’s sickness to prevention shift through providing affordable and accessible opportunities for people to increase their activity levels, with public leisure services key in how local authorities fulfil their public health responsibilities within communities.
The positive impact of community sports and physical activity is clear, with Sport England research showing its social value is responsible for £15.9 billion of overall healthcare net savings accrued through the prevention of a range of chronic diseases.
Alongside the Department for Work and Pensions, we are expanding access to evidence-based physical activity interventions to adults with musculoskeletal conditions in the community by leveraging the leisure and fitness workforce to help improve mobility, reduce pain and fatigue, and promote wellbeing, supporting them to get into and remain in work.
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