Neil Gillis, chief executive of health and fitness club chain, Esporta, has called on the government to embrace the fitness industry and slammed an NHS statement saying gardening is better exercise than going to the gym.

Esporta has seen a 23 per cent growth in membership for the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same period in 2003 and Gillis attributes it to increased awareness of fitness – thanks to the government’s health debate.

However, he believes the government is tackling the issue the wrong way and that exercise, not diet, is the cure.

“Some people within the government are trying to hijack the exercise initiative and use it as an opportunity to attack businesses,” he said.

“The first round in the debate was an attack on companies such as McDonald’s for providing the high fat food which is causing all our problems, but the facts do not support this argument.

“The health problem in this country is not about intake, it is about output. We are actually consuming less calories than we did 50 years ago.

“However, our convenience-led lifestyles mean we do not take the same kind of exercise we used to and so we do not even burn off that reduced calorie intake.”

He also claimed an NHS statement saying gardening and walking were better forms of exercise than going to the gym was ‘just ridiculous’.

“Unless you are a particularly adventurous or an unusual gardener, you simply won’t be able to get the same range and quality of exercise that you can achieve in a gym,” he said.

“Gyms, health clubs and sporting facilities should be encouraged by the government, there should be an active dialogue and we should feel as though we are all on the same side.

“If the government can embrace business on this issue then I think we can do a great deal to tackle the underlying problem in this country – not diet, but lack of regular, structured exercise.”

Gillis’s comments come on the back of figures revealed by the Leisure Database Company showing membership at the UK’s larger private health clubs grew by 7 per cent between September 2003 and March 2004.

However, smaller operators, with fewer than 1,500 members, have seen a downturn in membership of 6.3 per cent during the same period.