The Pandemic Has Increased the Need for Sports

Turkey's largest sports club chain MAC has prepared Turkey's Movement Map Research with FutureBright. According to the research, 10 out of 8 people in Turkey think that it is necessary to do sports for health. 4 out of 1 people does sports 3 days a week. However, inactivity increased during the pandemic, and 23 percent of the population gained an average of 5,3 kilograms.

MAC, which has been the biggest sports club chain in Turkey for more than 10 years, has produced the "Movement Map of Turkey" with FutureBright. The research, which was carried out for the first time in Turkey, revealed the results of the society's definition of movement, how active they find themselves, the place of sports in their lives and the changes in their movement habits with the pandemic.

According to the research conducted with three thousand people between the ages of 15-69, 59 percent of those surveyed describe themselves as active, while movement is associated with daily routines, housework and shopping in addition to sports. 4 out of 1 people does sports 3 days a week.

While one out of every two people said that their activity level decreased during the pandemic, 100 out of 23 people gained an average of 5,3 kilograms during this period.

MAC CEO Can Second and FutureBright Group Co-Founder Akan Abdula shared the research with the public at the press conference.

The results of the report are as follows:

We say we don't have time, we don't move enough

• While 10 out of 4 people surveyed associate it with sports activities, 5 define moving as walking. Traveling, walking around, housework are also defined as movement.
• In Turkey, 10 out of every 1 people defines themselves as "very active" and 5 as "mobile". 50 percent of the youth, 60 percent of the women and 70 percent of the mothers who participated in the study say "I am active"
• 100 out of every 15 people track their movements via the phone application. Average number of steps per day 7.720
  The most basic excuses for not moving are lack of time and fatigue.

Although we believe that sports support health, only 4 out of 1 people does sports.

• 10 out of 8 people state that they should do sports for a healthy life. Female participants are more likely to associate sports with weight loss than males.
• 75 percent of Turkey does not do sports. While one out of every four people states that they do sports, the average number of days they do sports is 3.

Inactivity increased during the pandemic, 100 out of every 23 people in Turkey gained an average of 5,3 kilograms

• 47 percent of the respondents stated that their movements decreased during the pandemic period.
• The pandemic has restricted movements in all age groups in the study, but due to long-term bans applied to the older age group, inactivity is particularly high in this segment.
• The working class emerges as the most active group.
• During this period, walking and running stand out as the main activities performed outside.
• In home sports, body exercises were preferred the most. While the 25-34 age group focuses on body-muscle exercises, women and youth focus on pilates / yoga.
• Half of the active and sports audience says they will do more sports after the pandemic.
• With the pandemic, 3 out of every 1 people states that they pay attention to their nutrition. Especially women (34 percent) and those who do sports (48 percent) eat more carefully during this period, while the already inactive mass (21 percent) state that they are more careless about nutrition.
• 100 out of 23 people state that they gained weight during the pandemic. While the average weight gained during the pandemic period is 5,3 kg, it is seen that women and active athletes gain relatively less weight.

“We invite Turkey to action”

MAC CEO Can Second said, “Since the day we were established as MAC, our goal is to encourage the society to do sports and to contribute to the recognition of sports as a lifestyle. In line with this goal, we conducted an important research with FutureBright and produced a Movement Map of Turkey. The relationship between sports and health is a proven fact. Studies have shown that people who do sports regularly and who are active; It shows that people who do not do sports and stay sedentary lead a longer and healthier life. It is also known that exercising three days a week is effective in preventing many health problems. According to the results of our research with FutureBright, 10 out of 8 people in Turkey believe that sports are necessary for a healthy life. On the other hand, the results of the same research show that three quarters of Turkey do not do sports. Therefore, we collectively agree that sports are necessary for a healthy life, but we need to make more efforts to do sports.

As the MAC family, we believe that a more active, healthier and quality life is a social need, and we have been working with all our strength to make sports accessible to everyone by encouraging more people to sports for more than 10 years. Therefore, it is gratifying for us to see that the awareness of sports in the society has increased with the pandemic. We can observe that the interest in sports is increasing with the increase in participation in both our clubs and events. We believe that with the spread of this awareness to the whole society, more people will make sports a way of life. As MAC, we invite Turkey to take action to improve our quality of life and lead a healthier life.”

FutureBright Group co-founder Akan Abdula said in his speech: “We are happy to bring such research to Turkey in cooperation with MAC. We all know the positive effects of physical activity physically, mentally and socially. It is possible to spend our lives as active as possible, to get more benefits with physical activity and to protect our health. The pandemic has had physical and mental effects on people in our country as well as all over the world. We are at a time when we need to pay the most attention to our health. For this, sports are necessary. We believe that the outputs of this research will increase awareness about sports and will guide everyone.”