2005 IRISH SCIENTIST YEAR BOOK

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Mount Mercy College, Model Farm Road, Cork
Elaine Collins, Evelyn Spillane and Deirdre Plant
The health benefits of a leisure centre to the community

We are frequent users of public leisure centres and have observed the many people who make use of these centres. We were struck by the range of facilities that leisure centres offer. Because of the growing awareness of the importance of exercise for our health, we investigated the health benefits of a leisure centre to the community.

We studied the public pool at Leisureworld, Bishopstown, in the suburbs of Cork. To obtain the information we needed we handed out various questionnaires to users. The questions were aimed at finding out the self-perceived health benefits of the centre as seen by the users. We also researched the GP Referral Scheme, a programme in which patients are referred by their GP to a leisure centre. Another topic researched was the ever increasing problem of obesity and lack of exercise in Ireland.

The following are some interesting results:

  • Since users began using the leisure centre, 58% of people felt they exercised more frequently.

  • Over 40% of users visit their public centre twice a week or more.

  • Almost 75% of people questioned used the centre in order to increase their fitness level. Twice as many women as men attended the centre in order to lose weight.

  • On a scale of 1 to 10, two-thirds of users felt the leisure centre had benefited their health by 7 out of 10 or greater.

After completing the project, we came to many conclusions, including:

  • Contradicting what the media has said in recent times about the younger population receiving inadequate amounts of exercise, our facts show that 64% of people questioned were under 34. Only 4% of the 150 questioned were over 65.

  • Users of Leisureworld, Cork, travel as far as 30 miles to use a public facility.

  • The GP Referral Scheme has proven to be a great success in Cork, however in one centre alone in Cork there is a waiting list of 90 patients. As a result one of our recommendations was that other centres should consider operating this programme.

In conclusion, we feel that public leisure centres are vital to the health of communities.


Elaine Collins, Evelyn Spillane and Deirdre Plant at the Exhibition

Elaine Collins, Evelyn Spillane and Deirdre Plant entered their project in the Intermediate Group Section of the Social & Behavioural Sciences Category at the EsatBT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in January 2005. They won a Special Award sponsored by Comhar, The National Sustainable Development Partnership. Their teacher was Ms Margaret Teegan.


This article was sponsored by Comhar
The National Sustainable Development Partnership