We want to get the nation fit and active, and to achieve this we must understand the environmental and social factors that reinforce certain behaviours at a subconscious level. We can’t simply give people information and expect them to change their behaviour.
This is the topline finding of a paper published in November by Dr Stanley Blue of Manchester University. Blue explains: “Smoking, exercise and eating are fundamentally social practices. Trying to get individuals to stop smoking or to eat healthily overlooks this fact.
“Public health policy will have to find the courage to break away from its traditional mould if it’s to stand a chance of confronting lifestyle disease. Current policy is dominated by the presumption that individuals are capable of making ‘better’ choices for themselves on the basis of information given to them by government or other agencies. This doesn’t account for the fact that practices like smoking and eating have histories of their own.
“We need to re-shape what is deemed socially acceptable and normal in order to change these practices.”
Research carried out by Ipsos MORI last year came to a similar conclusion. In the study, three-quarters of respondents underestimated the percentage of people in England who were meeting physical activity guidelines – and many saw this as an excuse to follow suit. “Our understanding of the social norm has a huge effect on how we act: if we think everyone else is doing it, we’re more likely to do it ourselves,” explains Bobby Duffy, MD of Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute. “People think the norm in society is inactivity.” (see p54)
So what can we do about this? Blue believes social practice should be placed at the heart of public health policy, with junk food, excessive consumption of alcohol and physical inactivity made socially unacceptable in much the same way as smoking has been. He also believes making the ‘right’ decision – going to the gym or eating five portions of fruit and veg a day, for example – shouldn’t be a matter of personal choice.
But that’s a tough call to make, as it implies a legislative approach – similar to the smoking ban – that forbids people from doing anything unhealthy. Quite aside from the authoritarian overtones that jar with the fabric of our society, we also need to be practical about this: how can we possibly legislate against people sitting down?
We need to turn this argument on its head. Making inactivity less socially acceptable would be no bad thing, but as behaviour change expert Dr Paul Chadwick says on p38, instilling a sense of shame can be counterproductive. If we’re going to legislate, let it be for activity rather than against inactivity: making leisure statutory, making active design a compulsory part of urban planning, and creating a national exercise incentive scheme. And at a club level, let’s learn from the likes of US yoga operation Brewasanas (see p60), which accepts that people enjoy a drink. We need to follow its example and bring that together with exercise into one social experience; if we make it either/or, the pub will win.
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
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Serco Leisure
Serco Leisure Operating Limited is one of the UK’s leading national operators of leisure centres, de [more...]
We want to get the nation fit and active, and to achieve this we must understand the environmental and social factors that reinforce certain behaviours at a subconscious level. We can’t simply give people information and expect them to change their behaviour.
This is the topline finding of a paper published in November by Dr Stanley Blue of Manchester University. Blue explains: “Smoking, exercise and eating are fundamentally social practices. Trying to get individuals to stop smoking or to eat healthily overlooks this fact.
“Public health policy will have to find the courage to break away from its traditional mould if it’s to stand a chance of confronting lifestyle disease. Current policy is dominated by the presumption that individuals are capable of making ‘better’ choices for themselves on the basis of information given to them by government or other agencies. This doesn’t account for the fact that practices like smoking and eating have histories of their own.
“We need to re-shape what is deemed socially acceptable and normal in order to change these practices.”
Research carried out by Ipsos MORI last year came to a similar conclusion. In the study, three-quarters of respondents underestimated the percentage of people in England who were meeting physical activity guidelines – and many saw this as an excuse to follow suit. “Our understanding of the social norm has a huge effect on how we act: if we think everyone else is doing it, we’re more likely to do it ourselves,” explains Bobby Duffy, MD of Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute. “People think the norm in society is inactivity.” (see p54)
So what can we do about this? Blue believes social practice should be placed at the heart of public health policy, with junk food, excessive consumption of alcohol and physical inactivity made socially unacceptable in much the same way as smoking has been. He also believes making the ‘right’ decision – going to the gym or eating five portions of fruit and veg a day, for example – shouldn’t be a matter of personal choice.
But that’s a tough call to make, as it implies a legislative approach – similar to the smoking ban – that forbids people from doing anything unhealthy. Quite aside from the authoritarian overtones that jar with the fabric of our society, we also need to be practical about this: how can we possibly legislate against people sitting down?
We need to turn this argument on its head. Making inactivity less socially acceptable would be no bad thing, but as behaviour change expert Dr Paul Chadwick says on p38, instilling a sense of shame can be counterproductive. If we’re going to legislate, let it be for activity rather than against inactivity: making leisure statutory, making active design a compulsory part of urban planning, and creating a national exercise incentive scheme. And at a club level, let’s learn from the likes of US yoga operation Brewasanas (see p60), which accepts that people enjoy a drink. We need to follow its example and bring that together with exercise into one social experience; if we make it either/or, the pub will win.
According to research which tracked more than 147,000 people for 30 years, 90-120 minutes
of strength training a week may deliver some of the biggest long-term health rewards.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Serco Leisure Serco Leisure Operating Limited is one of the UK’s leading national operators of leisure centres, de [more...]
