Baby Boomers ushered in an unprecedented fitness revolution back in the ’80s, and now, they’re reaching retirement age and still enjoying the perks of physical activity, the survey suggests. More businesses are tailoring classes to better serve this aging population. “Even the frail elderly can improve their balance and ability to perform activities of daily living when given appropriate functional fitness program activities,” the survey says.
Although Thompson is happy to see this group targeted by the industry, he is disappointed another group has been forgotten: overweight and obese kids and teens. “The industry seems to be giving up on this population because they aren’t profitable,” he says. Programs for overweight and obese youth ranked in the top 20 of last year’s survey, but was kicked off the list for 2017, despite the fact the youth obesity rate has yet to decrease in recent years. He hopes fitness professionals and businesses reconsider this population in future years, as they have with older adults.
