Should healthy people be rewarded?

Should healthy people be rewarded?

If 61 percent of Australia is overweight or obese and increasing each year, shouldn’t the minority (the healthy population) get an added benefit for staying trim. In 2008 the total annual cost of obesity for both children and adults in Australia, including health system costs, productivity and carers costs, was estimated to be around $58 billion of tax payers hard earned money. Why should healthy people be charged for staying healthy and using less government resources? By implementing a reverse health scheme with a focus on health promotion, encouragement and reward rather than just cleaning up the mess once it’s already been made benefits the population doing the right thing.

Ideas anyone?

One proposal could be a healthy population reward scheme to reward good health. An annual health checkup would determine your health status with simple BMI and fitness tests. Once found healthy a decreased tax threshold would be rewarded.

Blood Pressure: What does it all mean to me?

It is common knowledge to many gym goers that high blood pressure is a problem. In fact, most people are advised by their GP’s to undergo physical activity due to high blood pressure. Most people know their blood pressure results, saying “I have a blood pressure of 145/92 and that’s high”. But what do the numbers mean and what will high blood pressure do to my health. Blood pressure levels are measured with a sphygmomanometer and a pressure reading of 140/90 or anything above these numbers indicates hypertension.


Let’s look at a blood pressure reading of 120/70. The first number (120) is called the systolic pressure and is the pressure developed when the heart pumps blood into the circulatory system (the aorta and then other arteries). The second number (70) is called the diastolic pressure and is the pressure developed when the heart is relaxing (a term called ventricular diastole or filling of the heart with blood). When thinking about blood pressure and blood flow, imagine a flowing river. Blood pressure forces the blood thru the arteries to the muscles and organs so they can function. Normal blood pressure allows the blood to flow thru normally however with high blood pressure, the river turns into a turbulent fast flowing river, which can cause damage to the arteries causing health problems.

But why is it such a problem? High blood pressure is a massive problem in developed countries due to poor diet and lack of regular physical activity. High blood pressure or hypertension, is linked to many diseases such as coronary artery disease and cardiovascular diseases, meaning that high blood pressure may be an indication of an increased risk of developing one of these or many other diseases.

There are many treatments of high blood pressure such as drugs (beta blockers etc.) but a non-chemical easy solution is PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. Physical activity levels of just 30mins per day can minimize high blood pressure & the effects of high blood pressure but also improve health and wellbeing 

Private Health Insurance Numbers for Registered Exercise Professionals.

Private Health Insurance Provider Numbers are available to Fitness Australia Registered Exercise Professionals without any further expense than your current registration fee. Provider numbers are offered at the discretion of each Private Health Fund. Fitness Australia maintains an up to date list of the benefits being offered by Australia’s many Private Health Funds and works closely with many to ensure they are informed of industry standards for Registered Exercise Professionals.

For more information on Fitness Australia’s Register of Exercise Professionals and your current registration status please call 1300 211 311 and talk to Sue, Paul, Tanya or Francesca.