Firm urges FCT residents on health, mental wellness

One of the regional fastest-growing fitness firm has said that it invested over N700m to expand its footprints to Abuja by establishing two centers to aid healthy living amongst the residents.

The founder, I-Fitness, Mr. Foluso Ogunwale, said this weekend in Abuja at the inauguration of a gym.

• Group advocates mental wellness of children, educators
• Nigerians charged to walk more for mental and physical fitness

He said that the investment would help to instill the culture of health and wellness among residents in the city.

According to him, the Gwarinpa branch being inaugurated was the 16th among the various branches opened by the firm and that the Wuse Zone 5 branch would still come on-board in few months.

He said that the company’s decision to open two new outlets in Abuja was due to the desire to make fitness common, and more affordable.

He said that this has become imperative because the World Health Organization (WHO) 2021 report, said that non-communicable diseases account for 71 percent of global deaths.

He said that physical inactivity and harmful lifestyle habits were the leading causes of these health problems.

“So, as you know, I-fitness is currently West Africa’s fastest growing fitness chain, we provide an enabling environment for people to exercise, thereby building a healthier and happier community of people.

“We have had a lot of concentration in Lagos and we are quite excited because this is the first time we coming outside Lagos, we are opening in Gwarinpa today and we plan to have up to three to four centers in Abuja.

“For us fitness has become a part of the health care delivery system, that is, preventive healthcare. This is preventive health and since we are part of the system, so doing our bit counts a lot because in Abuja, we are going to be touching thousands of lives,” he said.

On her part, Board Member, i-fitness, Ms Nnenna Onyewuch, urged women especially the married one to keep fit saying, ‘it is not about your husbands, it is about you’.

According to Onyewuchi, the healthier people are, the happier they become and the more energy they will have to be able to do the things that they want to do because health is wealth.

She said that the healthier citizens were, the stronger and more competent they would feel to be able to chase their dreams.

Onyewuchi said that there was a strong correlation between physical health and mental health and that being active helps to tackle depression and coming to gyms brings people out of loneliness as they get to meet other people there.