Fitness in Denmark: A unique combination of the commercial and non-profit sectors

Abstract

During the last twenty years, the proportion of the adult population who practise one or more fitness activities has more than doubled. During the last ten years also the number of fitness centres has doubled. This development has also been observed in other countries, but Denmark differs from most countries, in that a large proportion of the fitness centres are run by associations or non-profit organisations. The relatively large role of the non-profit sector in fitness in Denmark has historical and cultural reasons: More than a 100-year-old tradition of non-competitive gymnastics, the development of an alternative exercise culture than sports and the existence of sports clubs across the country, based on this long-standing exercise culture, where the fitness culture can be integrated.