CBI AUGUST 01 Cover A 1/TOC.QK - Ihrsa
CBI AUGUST 01 Cover A 1/TOC.QK - Ihrsa
CBI AUGUST 01 Cover A 1/TOC.QK - Ihrsa
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Letters A health club should strive to educate<br />
its members about healthy eating habits.<br />
A ZONE TO PICK<br />
� My business partner and I own a small<br />
club in Pennsylvania and have been members<br />
of IHRSA for nearly 10 years. During<br />
that time, we have come to rely on IHRSA<br />
for a great deal of information and support.<br />
I wanted to express my displeasure<br />
with the recent announcement of the<br />
partnership formed between IHRSA and<br />
the Zone Café. I realize that, as fad diets<br />
go, The Zone isn’t as bad as most, but make<br />
no mistake—it is a fad diet. It doesn’t<br />
emphasize the healthy eating habits that<br />
50 years of research, the Food and Drug<br />
Administration, and nearly every registered<br />
dietician advocate.<br />
A health club should strive to educate<br />
its members about healthy eating habits.<br />
At our club, we employ a registered dietician<br />
to provide advice and counseling to<br />
our members. It isn’t a money-making<br />
service, but it helps set our club apart<br />
as a place where members can receive<br />
honest and realistic answers to their<br />
nutrition questions.<br />
Certainly, many clubs are able to offer<br />
nutrition counseling as profit centers, but<br />
The Zone—with its book, café, etc.—is<br />
designed only to make money. An organization<br />
such as IHRSA that asks its members<br />
to adhere to “ethical” business practices<br />
should be more careful about the alliances it<br />
enters into. How are we supposed to make<br />
real changes and emphasize education to<br />
the public if we aren’t all working toward<br />
the same goals?<br />
Rob Bishop, Owner<br />
Elevations Health Club<br />
B&B Fitness<br />
Scotrun, PA<br />
Editor’s note: the following is IHRSA’s<br />
response to the preceding letter.<br />
FOOD FOR THOUGHT<br />
� Your points are extremely well taken, and<br />
we greatly appreciate your speaking out.<br />
We understand your concerns regarding<br />
IHRSA’s recommending that clubs consider<br />
the Zone Café business proposition, and we<br />
concur that we must be very careful with<br />
respect to the partners we select.<br />
In the case of Zone Café, we were<br />
responding to the requests of many IHRSA<br />
members to present them with opportunities<br />
to “get into the food business.” We view<br />
the Zone Café program as a viable business<br />
opportunity for clubs that wish to go<br />
in that direction.<br />
We recognize, of course, that not every<br />
IHRSA program will resonate with every<br />
club, but do our best to design programs that<br />
make sense.<br />
Thank you again for your response, and<br />
please continue to speak out—positively or<br />
negatively—about IHRSA initiatives.<br />
��������<br />
��������<br />
������� ���� �������<br />
���� ���������<br />
�������� ��������<br />
Chuck Leve,<br />
Director of Business Development<br />
IHRSA<br />
Boston, MA<br />
HOW TO WRITE: If you would like to<br />
submit a letter for publication, please<br />
address it to <strong>CBI</strong> c/o IHRSA, 263 Summer St.,<br />
Boston, MA 02210, or e-mail cbi@ihrsa.org<br />
�������� ��� �������� �� ���� � �������� ������������� �<br />
���� ���� �� � ���� ������� ��� �� �������� �������� ���<br />
��� ���� ���� � ���� ���������� ��� ���������� ������ ��� ���<br />
�������� ���� �� ��� ��������� �������� ���������<br />
������� ������<br />
�������� ������� ��������� ������������ ����<br />
������ ����������� ��� ���� ������ ��� ���������� ���������� ������������� ��������<br />
������� � ��������� � � ���������� ������������ � ���������� �� ��������� ���� ����<br />
������� ���� ������������� ��� �������������� �������� ��������� ��������� ����<br />
������������ ���� ��� ������� � ���� ����� �� ��������� ���<br />
������� �������� �������� ��������� ������� ���� ������� �����������<br />
��� ���� ������������ ������� ��� ���� ������������ ����������<br />
������ ������������ � ���������� ������������ � ��� ����� ��������������� � ������� ����������������������<br />
Visit us at Club Industry Booth #1161<br />
��� ���� ��� ��������<br />
�������������� ��� ����������<br />
�� ��� �������� ����������<br />
��� ���������� ���������<br />
www.ihrsa.org � OCTOBER 2005 � Club Business International 11