War on Weight Loss !

We have become an obese nation and our health authorities are alarmed at the growing numbers afflicted with Diabetes.  The medical profession implores us to change our lifestyles - and adopt a daily regimen that includes a little regular exercise.

That's easier said than done and many people find that working with a personal trainer is the only way to maintain a regular training rhyme.  This is becoming a growing industry, but it is being frowned upon in the city of Sydney.  There are plans to inflict an annual licensing fee on personal trainers and ban them from using beaches, public parks and facilities like stairways.

Sydney council - which insists that we need to replace cars with bike paths - has a very different outlook when it comes to men and women in groups working on weight loss under the guide of a personal trainer.  It plans to limit the group size to just eleven people and impose strict time restrictions.   There will be noise limits to ban the use of whistles and any form of music, exercise equipment will face restrictions on how and where it can be used and stored and there will be distinct limits on the amount of time such groups will be allocated for exercise sessions.

The council seems concerned at the stress that exercise will impose on the grass in parks and public places and there is thinking that if personal trainers are being paid for their services they are running a business - and the council is justified in imposing fees to cover the use of public land by any public profit enterprise.

Sadly, it looks like a very promising way of actually getting people to lose some weight and improve their health is going to get smothered in red tape and restrictions.  It is the " Fun " aspect of group training that gets people started and then the competitive edge kicks in as they compare weight loss between group members.  In a time starved city it is important that this activity be sited in a convenient place - and that means on public land, be it on a local beach or on our vast areas of grassed parkland.

The council claims that the sight of people training in parks is offensive to some people and many activities are restricted for the common good.  Signs warn that it is an offence to kick footballs, play cricket or take a leashed dog into most parks and that bans on exercise groups is maintaining that standard.  That seems to miss the point of why we have parks in the first place - as a venue for public use.

Getting people to take care of their health has had a big boost from television shows like the " Biggest Loser " and at any time there are probably a dozen weight loss diets in vogue.  Currently, finding a personal trainer to plan a weight loss regime is all the rage and this is achieving the results the health industry so desperately needs.   The last thing we need is for a council to deliberately place obstacles in the way to close down such a promising movement.

The council admits that it gets between 30 to 40 complaints a year against training regimes that residents find offensive.   That is minuscule in a city of this size.  Reasonable restrictions on class sizes and venues will prevent excess, but this is activity that should be encouraged - not gazetted out of existence !