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The silver
tsunami cometh.
Today, 55% of the population are overweight, 20% are
considered obese. In the last decade, this number has doubled
(1,2). While this is an alarming statistic, it is only a small
part of the picture. Being overweight is a symptom of
unhealthiness leading to many other problems. Consumers spend
a trillion dollars a year on food in today’s market. Over the
past decade consumers have more than doubled the money spent
on fast food
(1,2). Grocery foods have become increasingly less
nutritious, more processed and packaged; convenience foods
that do little for health but contribute much to the health
dilemma (14).The market place has responded to these problems
by providing more products to ease pain and simplify life.
Pharmaceutical companies
spend 1.3 trillion a year advertising their drugs in
the hope that we will defer to a pill over a healthier
lifestyle. In fact, food and drug advertising dominate
television advertising today. Sadly, 90% of all
pharmaceuticals sold are maintenance drugs not drugs intended
to cure. According to renowned author Paul Zane Pilzer,
maintaining pharmaceutical consumption is far more profitable
than curing the patient (4). This adds up to two main
problems. First, the health of our nation is at risk. Second,
the risks of that poor health lead to other problems as we get
older.
Yet many problems are initiated through lifestyle
rather than age. For example, the top three killers in the US
are considered lifestyle diseases, not age related problems.
Of other conditions, such as diabetes, osteoporosis,
arthritis, cholesterol and blood pressure, much can be
associated with weight gain and inactivity
(3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12).
Americans are living longer than ever before, on
average 30 years longer than a century ago. But longevity
doesn’t mean eternal youth. Our aging population, boosted by a
generation of baby boomers approaching retirement, will be a
boon to the fitness industry and especially personal training
over the next decade (and lasting more than three decades)-
but only to those willing to adjust their market and training
to accommodate them.
The following paper discusses the reasons why this
demographic change is imminent and how it has already begun to
affect today’s health club market.
Baby boomers are booming, but what is a baby boomer?
This is often a confusing subject because many do not agree on
the exact years of the boomers. However, we call them baby
boomers because between the years 1946-1964, (18 years) 78
million people were born in the U.S. In the eighteen years
before 1946 only 50 million people were born. In the eighteen
years after 1964, only 66 million people were born.
Considering these statistics, the young now no longer dominate
the population for the first time in history. The boomers, who
in 2003 will be 39-58 years old will be 49-68 years of age ten
years from now and will represent the peak earners of the
population.
This trend is anticipated to drive today’s 200 billion
dollar wellness business and catapult it to a trillion dollars
of growth by 2010 (4). Why? Because baby boomers have been
responsible for our economic growth since they became working
adults. Boomers drove the largest stock market rise in
history, the housing boom, the rise of international airlines,
the personal computer, the world wide web, multi-level
marketing, the SUV, in short boomers and the things they want
are responsible for five trillion of our 10 trillion dollar
economy. Even more astonishing is that they are only 30% of
the economy but are responsible for 50% of GNP. And more
significant they are about to add a trillion to the economy to
preserve their youth and treat their
ailments.
Let's look at some surprising
statistics:
- 6,000 Americans turn 65 every day in our
country.
- In the
next 20 years, the 50+ market segment will increase 74%,
while the under 50 segment will increase only
1%
- Over the
next 10 years, the 55-to-59-year-old population is expected
to increase by 54 percent. The 60 to 64 age group will
increase by 58 percent.
- By 2030,
the number of people in their 40s, 50s and 60s will more
than double.
- For the
first time in the history of the developed world, the older
population will soon outnumber the younger
population.
- Older
adults comprise a busy and vital group that is looking for
more ways to be active; for example, they represent 53
percent of adventure travelers.
- Those over 50 control 80% of all U.S. savings and
control 50% of all discretionary buying
power.
- Older adults have more than $900 billion in personal
income. This represents almost 50 percent of the nation's
discretionary income.
- Older
adults hold 53 percent of the nation's
wealth.
- Since many of the baby boomer generation are
two-income households, they will become two-pension
households as well.
While 55% of the population struggle with their health,
the other 45% of the population are going the other direction
and getting healthier. They are aware they should be taking
care of their own health, and they represent aging people who
have disposable incomes.
For today's shrinking ranks of younger adults an
increase in income means usually less time to enjoy life. This
is reflected in people vacationing less, working more and
having less time. This has caused some forecasters to predict
the slowing down of luxury purchases, goods and services as a
whole. It is hypothesized for perhaps the basis of the
condition of our economy as a whole. But that does not account
for the aging. Older Americans are seeking to slow down their
life, not fill it with work. As if that weren't enough, these
people who represent a growing portion of the population and
hold more than half of the nation's wealth are going through
lifestyle changes that make them amenable to exercise. Their
children move out of the house. They retire. They may move
into a smaller home, they have more time, more money and a
greater desire to hold on to their
youth.
While older adults represent a growing - and
potentially lucrative - market, many clubs continue to avoid
them, preferring to stick to the eighties concept of young
hard body advertising, because that has worked for them in the
past. From the '60s through the '80s, the 20-year-old
population was increasing. As an industry, the health club
experienced a boom in fitness that looked like it would never
end, however, it was simply growing because it was taking
advantage of the growth in population of a young market. But
the industry has softened in growth as the majority of this
younger market slides out of the 20-something age range. In
fact, the number of people in their 20s has decreased by 10
percent since 1990. And that's not all: In the next 10 years,
we'll see an 8 percent drop in the 30-to-34-year-old
population and a 17 percent drop in the 35-to-39-year-old
population. Yet health clubs continue to advertise and market
to the young and healthy. It’s no wonder the market now
appears so soft.
- Today,
three in 10 health club members are 50 and over; in 1988,
this figure was two in 10.
- 27
percent of these members participated in fitness activities
100 or more times per year.
- 48 percent of those aged 50 and over participate in
physical activity three times per
week.
- 30
percent of those aged 50 and over participate in physical
activity one to two times per week.
- Between 1987 and 2001, the number of fitness club
members over the age of 55 increased by more than 266
percent (15).
The upshot of the demographic changes are that if
you're not targeting this market, you risk losing active aging
adults to clubs that will cater to their needs - and missing
out on a big piece of the membership pie.
Boomers have come to understand - and fear - their own
mortality by witnessing the health problems their own parents
experienced. As a result, they turn to activities and
behaviors that will allow them to avoid the suffering, which
their mothers and fathers endured while
aging.
These events cause a change in lifestyle where the need
to look after themselves regains importance (13). They're
intent on being able to continue to live as they've always
lived. They want to keep active, busy and involved. These
people look to the fitness industry to provide them with ideas
for how to fill their time, and with ideas on how to improve
health. But as we get older, our bodies change - not always in
ways that are positive. Older adults are counting on exercise,
better eating and new innovations to compensate for any
feelings of getting older. They'll work harder to feel younger
and they’ll seek professional help in doing
so.
It’s no secret that older Americans have medical needs
different from their younger counterparts. The average 75-year
old has three chronic medical conditions and regularly uses
about five prescription drugs, as well as a number of
over-the-counter medications. In many cases, older people are
using upwards of a dozen drugs at any given time. This is a
problem for two reasons. First, changes with age can alter how
the body metabolizes, absorbs and clears these drugs from the
body. Second, they aren’t really taking 7-12 different drugs,
but a cocktail of one combined drug that no one knows the
reaction to. In America today over 100,000 people per year die
from “appropriately” prescribed pharmaceuticals (5).
The sickness business is a rapidly growing problem in
the U.S. It is 1/7th of the
GNP
and is expected to triple by the year 2030. This will
largely be spearheaded by the boomer generation. By attending
to the needs of these aging Americans, providing them with
improved function, strength and vitality, these costs could be
lowered. If costs could be lowered only 10 percent a year, the
nation would save $50.4 billion in health care costs. The
potential savings by the year 2020 would be $133.7 billion a
year. Beyond these direct savings, the boomers would be
healthier, more independent seniors, further decreasing the
need for nursing and long-term care homes. If a trainer does
nothing more than prevent falls and improve daily activities
of living, they would have done a great service towards
lowering the out of control costs of health care in the U.S.
today.
In its book 50 Million Members by 2010, IHRSA refers to
the senior population as "the centerpiece of the industry's
initiative" to create new memberships. And for good reason.
Older adults are growing in number, interested in exercise,
and committed. In fact, once older members start a fitness
program, they are less likely to drop out. Older adults are
very loyal, and once they start to experience the benefits of
exercise, they tend to tell their friends. This positive word
of mouth means that senior members cost very little in terms
of marketing and retention
expenses.
Despite encouraging enrollment statistics, fitness
clubs have only scratched the surface of the profitable older
market. Clubs have captured only 10 to 12 percent of the total
population, and only 9 percent of people over the age of 55.
Older adults are a growing demographic with money to spend and
the motivation to exercise. Although it may be daunting at
first due to older members' special needs and competition from
various fronts, clubs should do what they can to tap into this
lucrative market. One reason why health clubs have been slow
to adopt older adults is the issue of creating an environment
suitable for the older adult. Older people don’t move like
younger people, they don’t respond to the same marketing, they
expect more from the services they pay for, and they need more
help.
Older people like to be pampered, and they desperately
desire to hold on to their youth. Once a person gets a
positive fitness experience they are more likely to return to
the same person to ask about additional youth preserving
products or services. The silver boom may be a little like
being in the internet business from the beginning according to
Paul Zane Pilzer (4). Today these electronic toolmakers are
responsible for over half of the economy, and they actually
provide no end consumer service, simply the tools for end
service companies to use in order to spur their economic
growth. Yet ironically, the companies that last are those with
the end use customer relationships, not the toolmakers. The
one entity most directly influencing this consumer trend will
be the personal fitness trainer, primarily because they are
the main contact and health provider in the health club
environment. To meet the special needs of older adults,
trainers will have to be better trained in mature fitness,
interpreting medical histories and recognizing that many
symptoms may present differently in older populations than in
their younger counterparts; however, to continue to survive
and thrive in this new economy it is essential for trainers to
add senior fitness to their knowledge base.
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