The next step must be to replicate this across gyms, leisure centres and community programmes nationally, he urges. “I want us, as a sector, to ask people things like ‘How active were you before?’ and ‘How long have you been part of this activity?’ alongside the standard, consistent questions for health, wellbeing, loneliness, trust and belonging. This alone would transform the evidence base.” Indeed, consistently gathering such data would be a vital stepping stone to clearly evidencing – to government and the NHS – “what works and who benefits most to get the greatest return on public funding”. And there are no excuses, says Watt. The evidence and tools are there to quantify our impact. The opportunities are also there, with DCMS, the Department of Health and the NHS all looking for solutions to the country’s health challenges. Yet we will only be taken seriously if we provide the right evidence, “measuring consistently across the sector to consistently evidence our impact and social value”. GLP-1 momentum The current excitement around GLP-1 weight loss medication brings the value of this approach into sharp focus. Analysing GLP-1 clinical guidance and
comparing it with GM Active data, Watt observes: “These drugs can cost the NHS around £3,000 per person per year – and if people stop taking them, they often return to where they started.” By contrast, “physical activity programmes deliver enormous, long-term wellbeing gains at a fraction of the cost”. That doesn’t mean the two approaches are mutually exclusive, Watt stresses. However, the comparison does highlight why measuring wellbeing matters: “If you don’t measure wellbeing alongside physical health, you miss half the picture.” Raising the bar For Watt, the sector now faces a clear choice: raise the standard of evidence or risk being overlooked in the debate around preventative healthcare. “The sector has enormous potential to improve lives,” he says. “But credibility comes from evidence. If we want policymakers to take physical activity seriously, we need to measure what matters – and that means shifting levels of activity, evidence that you work with those who are inactive and evidence that what you do works to improve health and wellbeing.” With thanks to WellNation for permission to adapt its original interview
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026
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