Efforts to overcome physical inactivity need to driven by positive changes that embed activity into our daily lives, rather than simply providing information and expecting people to make the right decision.

That is the view of Health Club Management editor Kate Cracknell, who calls for activity to be encouraged across the entire fabric of society in her editor’s letter for the March 2015 edition.

Citing a recent paper published in November by Dr Stanley Blue of Manchester University, Cracknell notes that “Smoking, exercise and eating are fundamentally social practices,” and adds that we “must understand the environmental and social factors that reinforce certain behaviours at a subconscious level.”

Rather than shaming people into exercising, Cracknell advocates positive reforms to ensure activity becomes unavoidable. She urges council leisure provision to become statutory, active design to be made a compulsory part of urban planning and the creation of a national exercise incentive scheme.

Blue’s paper suggests social practice should be placed at the heart of public health policy. At health club level, Cracknell argues that gyms should look to cater for member’s social needs and factor this into their overall offering.

Citing the example of US yoga initiative Brewasanas – which holds classes in a brewery, with participants sharing a post-session beer – Cracknell concludes: “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.”

To read the March 2015 edition of Health Club Management, click here.