UK Wellness Hubs

According to the Report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Health of April 2003 , OBESITY amongst the British population had trebled in the preceding...See more » According to the Report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Health of April 2003 , OBESITY amongst the British population had trebled in the preceding 20 years and the statistics of those risking premature death due to obesity had more than doubled. The culprit according to the report was the fact that 50% of the UK population is overweight and 26% could be classified as OBESE. According statistics from the British Heart Foundation “someone suffers from a heart attack every two minutes” or put differently “275,000 people suffer heart attacks in Britain per year.” The Foundation also says that Coronary Heart Disease or CHD accounts for over 120,000 deaths per year and that CHD alone costs the British Tax Payer £7Billion each year.The main cause for the this alarming growth in lifestyle diseases is our addiction to insane industrial age nutritional habits thanks to the advent of the fast food industry and the reduction in physical activity due to the invasion of 24/7/365 television sitcoms. The growing costs of these lifestyle diseases like CHD and diabetes financed not only by the sufferers but also by the average tax payer and the threat rising costs are posing to the bankruptcy of the whole system is contributing to the fact that health and wellness is no longer a fringe concern of baby boomer generation wishing to enjoy and extend their retirement years, an issue to be taken seriously by all generations. Health and wellness concerns now permeate every aspect of British Society at all ages and are reflected in the manner in which all industries are responding with innovative products and services to the day to day concerns of their customers. The National Health Service, Local government Authorities, National Education Services, manufacturers, services companies, health professionals, architects and civil society are multiplying health and wellness initiatives to combat this core lifestyle challenge of our times. These concerns which have now gained global proportions are propelling the wellness sector into the third most prominent industry of our times just after the computer and the telecommunications industry. The renowned US Economist who has written twelve bestsellers on the subject predicts as a matter of fact that the wellness sector will be the next global trillion dollar industry. The current volume of annual turnover of the UK and European wellness sector is estimated at £140billion. There is growing evidence of public private partnership initiatives throughout the UK to help businesses, institutions and individuals win a slice of the global trillion dollar industry for the UK local economies. One such example is the Scotland Wellness Initiative coordinated by the Innovation Centres Scotland Ltd in association with the Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire to identify opportunities to develop Scotland-wide projects to support the development of wellness related companies and technologies. Its unique position as the premier international business, financial, academic and cultural tourism hub ensures that Britain remain at the cutting edge of research, development and investment in health and wealth innovations in all fields. UKWellnessHubs.com highlights wellness such trends catching the headlines in Britain and welcomes guest contributions from professionals and individuals of all sectors and levels wishing to join the UK WiN Conversations regarding any and all matters concerning our individual and collective wellness. Send contributions, requests for links to your UK Wellness Blogs, UK Wellness Websites, and UK Wellness Podcasts etc to ukwellnesshubs@google.comSee less »