64 per cent Indians don’t exercise: Study

We hear about the importance of leading a healthy and active life almost all the time, to the extent that you’d expect it would have changed the lifestyle of many people who led a sedentary life. Well, the reality is far from what we perceive. While most Indians want to lead a healthy lifestyle, lack of motivation and time make it difficult for them to do so, according to a new research from market intelligence agency, Mintel. The sample group of the study was 3000 Indian adults aged 18 and above.
According to the research, it was found that almost two-thirds (64%) of Indians say that they don’t exercise. Interestingly, while nearly half (46%) of consumers say that leading a healthy lifestyle is their top priority, only 37% of them actually exercise.
Mintel research reveals that lack of time as the top barrier for exercising with almost a third (31%) of consumers say that they don’t have time to exercise.

They further revealed that Indians tend to choose very basic forms of exercise – as many as two-thirds (67%) of Indians who exercise typically do brisk walking. This is followed by 26% of Indians who do yoga/pilates/CrossFit, 11% who do cardio and team sports (e.g. football, cricket), respectively, and 10% who do bodyweight exercises (e.g. push-ups, pull-ups, squats).

They reason for choosing very basic forms of exercise is the fact that exercises involving gyms and fitness classes tend to be more expensive.

The research also studied the growth in sports nutrition product launches in 2018; of the total launches seen in the sports nutrition category between 2015-2018 in India, 65% happened in 2018. Of the sports nutrition products launched in India in 2018, 93% carried functional claims. Specifically, ‘weight and muscle gain’ (69%), ‘energy’ (45%) and ‘immunity’ (22%) are some of the top functional claims in India’s sports nutrition product category.

However, there seems to be a lack of awareness as 13% of Indians claim that they don’t know enough about sports nutrition products and 11% believe that these products are harmful if consumed without rigorous exercise, reveals Mintel research.