One Village One Fitness Club

[george]

Fitness clubs wanted in villages

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry will encourage each village to have at least one fitness club in a campaign to promote good health and reduce the number of deaths from health-related illnesses. Public Health Minister Phinij Jarusombat said a survey last year showed that the country had 76,000 fitness clubs with 8.3 million members nationwide.

There should be at least one fitness centre in each village to encourage the people to exercise and promote good health.

Regular exercise can save on costly medical expenses needed to treat such diseases as kidney infections, he said.

A survey of 8,800 fitness club members in 22 provinces last year showed that one-fifth of the members had turned to regular exercise because they either had high blood pressure, were overweight or suffered from diabetes.

--Bangkok Post 2006-01-09