24 Mar 2019

Richard Beddie: New Zealand's inactivity rate amongst the worst in the world

From Sunday Morning, 9:40 am on 24 March 2019
Group of four people spinning in the gym, as they take part in a HIIT class.

Photo: 123RF

The ExerciseNZ chief executive Richard Beddie has just returned from a World Health Organisation conference in Geneva, where he led a session on global standards for exercise professionals. Unfortunately, the news was not good from a New Zealand perspective. Although about 14 percent of the population have gym memberships, which puts us right up there internationally, our inactivity rate of 40 percent across the board (and as high as 90 percent in some age groups) is amongst the worst in the world. Richard Beddie speaks to Jim about the issues facing this country in the exercise field and what needs to be done to remedy some of these shocking findings.