Betting on Fitness

　　China's health officials have devised a surefire way of promoting the population's health: to wager it on one of the most reliable instincts in human nature - the urge to gamble.

　　They're using funds from the country's lottery system to dot the landscape with a colorful, convenient way to stay fit: the public exercise equipment that's popping up in empty spaces around the country.

　　Hoping to present a healthy body politic to the world when the Olympics arrive in 2008, China is on a nationwide health kick. Through the Quan Min Jian Shen (Fitness for All) project, funded largely by the Sports Lottery, the government aims to promote health and fitness among the masses.

　　Building gymnasiums and stadiums is a part of this effort, but there are many people whose needs such facilities don't meet. To make exercise accessible to those who mainly require a light workout that's within reach, sets of public exercise machines are being installed in parks, squares and residential communities to fill in the gap.

　　The result is that almost anywhere you go now in urban areas around China, a brightly-colored assortment of "horse riding machines," massagers and various stretching devices is somewhere nearby, available free of charge. Although no national figures are available, Beijing alone had nearly 4,000 such sets by the end of last year.

　　Though anyone could benefit to some extent by stopping by the local roadside "gym" to get some reps in, the primary target group specified by the project for these facilities is the elderly. When designing the equipment, authorities took their needs into account, adapting fitness center-type equipment to be low-impact and safe for use without supervision.

　　The equipment has been a hit with common people and experts alike. Says Gan Yunbiao, a fitness teacher at the Capital Institute of Physical Education: "Before these facilities were set up, older people could only do taijiquan and maybe go jogging. The great thing is that now they have a place where they can do other exercises that are suitable for them and communicate with other people. Both are good for their health." - Jason Subler