By Jon Tarrant
WHY is it that we have to pay to use a gym to improve physical fitness but it costs nothing to borrow books that provide intellectual stimulation?
There can be little doubt that if the concept of public libraries were to be hatched today then it would be using a subscription model. What a travesty that would be!
Stocked with high quality, free-to-borrow works of both fiction and non-fiction, libraries can develop creativity, concentration, knowledge and memory. They also instil respect and discipline as the modes of behaviour expected inside libraries are different from those that prevail in many other public spaces.
A similar thing can be said regarding expected behaviours in gyms but in this case the access model is different and subscriptions are very much the norm. Of course, you may well ask how things could possibly be any different: why and how should the government fund free gyms?
The thing is, health and fitness are part of a much bigger picture that also incorporates illness and medical conditions. Only a month ago, we read that it costs an estimated £42m to support Jersey’s obese and overweight Islanders (JEP, 18 December 2024). This figure is expected to rise to £57m in 2025.
Diet is obviously a key factor in weight control and overall health but so too is exercise. Even something as simple as walking can improve fitness but being outdoors isn’t for everyone. Taking part in a weekly exercise class is a great alternative and can also support mental wellbeing due to the sense of camaraderie that comes from participating in group activities.
With all this in mind, is it possible that we could improve the Island’s health (and offset future medical financial liabilities) by making all government fitness centres available to the public free of charge?
This idea is not without precedent. Some disabled Islanders have previously been able to use the Les Quennevais pool free of charge, although I believe this is no longer the case. And radical though it may sound, by finding money to improve the Island’s health now, we might actually reduce medical costs in the future.
I have heard two objections to this idea. One is that private gyms would go out of business if government fitness facilities were free. That’s rather like saying bookshops would go bust if we had public libraries: clearly, public libraries haven’t done away with bookshops.
The other objection is that exercise classes are crowded enough and encouraging more people to participate will simply produce frustration and disappointment when people are unable to secure a space. Well, there are (at least) two possible answers to that, starting with the option to run more classes in order to facilitate greater participation.
The second answer is to get rid of the idea that people can book their classes in advance, only to cancel at the last minute and leave empty spaces in what are actually over-subscribed events. Cancelling a class has no cost penalty for Active Card holders and there is currently nothing in the system that stops people from booking two different classes in the same time slot.
Or we could take a different approach, again echoing the public library model, and offer a limited range of equipment on a free loan basis. Small weights and resistance bands spring to mind but pedometers and fitness monitors (the low-cost type, not bells-and-whistles, Internet enabled versions) might be more powerful as they allow users to measure and track their own health indicators.
In an ideal world, borrowers would agree to log their progress so the impact of this initiative can be measured and assessed. The data provided could be something as simple as a weekly record of resting heart rate. Participants would then continue to have free access to their borrowed items for as long as they complete the weekly updates.
Once again, the cost of such items should be recouped in reduced long-term financial liabilities. It is an investment that is likely to produce the very best possible sort of return; a healthier and happier population. Who could possibly argue against any initiative that aspires to such a laudable outcome?
In summary, here are three specific suggestions for what could be done right now to encourage more people into gyms and fitness classes to improve their health:
1. Launch “Active April”: all facilities and all classes will be free for everybody in government-run gyms. If doing that all day for four weeks is too scary then maybe limit free access to every afternoon, from noon until closing time. (Existing card holders would get an appropriate expiry-date extension.)
2. After April, all facilities and classes remain free on Fridays (or whichever day currently has the lowest foot-fall).
3. Offer an equipment loan service (resistance bands, small weights, pedometers and fitness monitors) for those who commit to improving their health in their own time.
If, after all these efforts, we see no first shoots of improved public health, then at least we can say we gave it a go instead of simply wondering where to find an extra £15m to support this year’s anticipated increase in funding for unhealthy Islanders.
-
Jon Tarrant was born and educated in Jersey before studying and working in the UK across a variety of roles from industrial R&D and computer programming to photographic journalism. He is the author of a number of books on photography and blogs about science topics at physbang.com.
