Do you aware of the health and wellness industry? Do you ever think we can boost the country’s economy through the health and wellness industry? How we can use sports to get income with Covid-19 challengers?
Wellness is a concept that was used many years ago but recently it became the industry. Wellness is a multidimensional, holistic, and self-responsible concept. According to global wellness, institute wellness is consists of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental dimensions.
Health and wellness industry is a hot-button topic in the world with Covid-19 pandemic to develop the country’s economy. The wellness economy is “industries that enable consumers to incorporate wellness activities and lifestyles into their daily lives”. With the pandemic, automatically people are addicted to living in sedentary behavior. Because of that most of the health issues are arise like obesity, heart diseases, suicide, diabetics, and so on.
Programs
To overcome the sedentary behavior people are involved with exercise programs via online.
However, still in Sri Lanka did not develop a proper system to start those programs in the economical aspect. It is important to know how we can use this sports industry to overcome health issues as well as to develop the country’s economy. Therefore to study the health and wellness industry is more important.
According to the future of wellness market blog, it has become the global trend to overcome the economical issues of the country. Global wellness institute guaranteed that this industry is valued at $45 trillion and continually growing in the future. The global wellness market is estimated to be more than $1.5 trillion, with an annual growth rate of five percent to 10 percent. Therefore, we should have to apply these concepts to Sri Lanka sports settings.
According to Mckinsey’s research, their future of Wellness survey released the six dimensions. Better health, better fitness, better nutrition, better appearance, better sleep, and better mindfulness. We can increase the country’s economy through these six dimensions. So, let’s see how we can use these six dimensions in Sri Lanka.
Better health
We can promote the concept of better health and increase the awareness of the importance of sports, physical activities, and exercises to be healthy. With these programs, we can introduce aerobics, yoga, Zumba classes. Through the promotion of better health can improve the health status of citizens, communities, and the whole nation. This impacts the economical growth of the country in several ways. When the citizens are healthy its helps to raise the production rate due to lower absenteeism, low illness workers and so on.
Better fitness
By engaging in physical activities, people can increase their physical fitness level it also leads to the productivity rate of the country. Through fitness, the workforce can work effectively and efficiently. Economists also have found that physical fitness has a positive impact on the economy because of its reduction the lifetime costs, increase productivity due to low absenteeism, and capacity for independent living among older adults.
According to the international analysis of the economic benefits of a more physically active population estimated that compared to current physical activity levels by 2025, the global GDP could be between US$138 billion — US$338 billion higher with increased activity. Therefore, sports expertise should have to provide an environment that encourages physical activity and access to facilities, encourage participation in physical activity and sports programs.
Better nutrition
Healthy diets reduce illness, obesity rate, stroke, and diabetics rate as well as the death rate of the country. In addition to produce many economic benefits, lower medical care and lower institutional care costs and the lower rate of absenteeism can increase productivity. Scholars are estimated that the benefits of healthy eating in the United States to be $114.5 billion per year (in 2012 dollars) in medical savings, increased productivity. Through better nutrition the country can reduce the medical care cost, less morbidity, higher productivity rate, and long life expectancy.
When considering the cost of a healthy diet it’s very minimal by comparing with unhealthy foods. In Sri Lanka, most people are addicted to using milk powder but if they can use the kola kande they can get more benefits rather than using the milk powder. It takes lower cost and consumes high nutritional facts. So we can promote the healthy foods stoles in the country and through that can increase the healthy eating and can give some job opportunities.
Better appearance
When it comes to better appearance people are self-motivated to think there appearance with their fitness level and body images. This concept can produce sports attire such as bottoms, shoes, T Shirts, and so on.
Better sleep
Quality sleep plays a significant role to improve the country’s economy. Insufficient sleep is associated with a range of negative health and social outcomes. As person who takes an average of fewer than six hours of sleep per night has a ten percent higher mortality risk than someone sleeping between seven and nine hours. An individual who sleeps between six to seven hours per day still has a four percent higher mortality risk. Through better sleep can increase the productivity rate and effectiveness of the employees.
Better mindfulness
Mindfulness can improve well-being by increasing the ability to regulate emotions, decrees the stress, anxiety and depression. These things help to increase the attention and concentration of the country’s citizens its leads the product and through the higher productivity rate can increase the country’s economy.
So, to develop the countries economy we can use this health and wellness industry effective way. Then I will point out the recommendations to develop this industry in Sri Lanka.
Promote the entrepreneurs in the sports sector for example fitness, yoga, and aerobics centers, healthy food centres, sports attires, and types of equipment shops, encourage people to involve in this physical and fitness activities. Build up a wellness tourism culture. With geographical locations of Sri Lanka can attract the tourist mainly concerned with the mindfulness and wellness concept.
By promoting traditional medicine concepts and traditional sports such as the traditional Ayurveda healing methods and exercises like yoga and ayurvedic steam baths and saunas to meditation, acupuncture. Based on herbs and diet, traditional Sri Lanka can lead the wellness tourism in Sri Lanka.
Providing organic food products, and looking towards a healthy diet with fruits, vegetables can be very beneficial for health-conscious travelers. Through that can give the job opportunities to people can develop the facilities of the rural area and develop the infrastructure of these areas.
Therefore, my suggestion is this health and wellness industry can be a leading sports industry in Sri Lanka in the future.
The writer is a Senior Lecturer Department of Sport Science and Physical Education Faculty of Social Sciences University of Kelaniya