Diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and even cancer: lack of exercise is associated with a large number of chronic diseases. Physical fitness therefore is a good means of preventing these widespread or lifestyle diseases. This is why in Germany an increasing range of strategies has been developed for promoting exercise aimed at maintaining health or alleviating disease symptoms. One example are the efforts made by health insurance providers to motivate their members via bonus programmes, another are the offers available from many fitness studios that increasingly aim at enhancing health rather than simply producing "thick" muscles and the famous "sixpack".

One in five trade visitors to FIBO works in the health sector

The progress made in this respect by the fitness industry is once again demonstrated this year by FIBO, the leading international trade show for fitness, wellness and notably also Health which will be held in Essen from 19 bis 22 April. "This is precisely where the concept of FIBOmed, a trade show within the trade show launched in 2008, comes in", says FIBO Director Olaf Tomscheit. That is certainly one of the reasons for the trade show's steady growth. 600 exhibitors from 35 countries and more than 60,000 expected visitors from over 100 countries - these are record figures and once again demonstrate that FIBO as the industry's leading international trade show offers the biggest overview of the market once a year. At the same time it is continuously developing, particularly in the health segment. Says Tomscheit: "The entire industry and the trade show as well have taken a gigantic step in the direction of the health market in the past five years."

This was also apparent from the results of the representative market survey which is compiled regularly in connection with FIBO. After FIBO 2011 the following information could be found in it: one in four fitness studio plans investments in the health segment and an extension of business activities into this segment. A development that is not one-way: the medical and therapist community meanwhile increasingly relies on offering health-oriented training in the treatment of patients.

The market potential is high. For FIBO this means: its visitor clientèle has changed enormously over the past few years. Since 2006 the number of trade visitors from the health sector - physicians, physiotherapists, sports physicians - has doubled. Meanwhile one in five visitors comes from this segment.

FIBOmed with many features

Exhibitors from the FIBOmed segment are to be found in just about every FIBO hall. The complete exhibitor list is available on the www.fibo-med.de homepage. To simplify orientation at the trade show, all FIBOmed exhibitors are marked in the folding hall plan as well as in the halls with triangular floor stickers.

The centre of FIBOmed is the FIBOmed Pavillion in Hall 7. A new feature here is the Functional Training Park by Perform Better as part of FIBOmed. Particularly the health market has taken up this new trend which originated in performance sports. It differs from conventional training methods in that it does not focus on muscle power but aims primarily at minimising the risk of injury and enhances physical fitness through targeted exercise.

FIBOmed Guided Tours

For the first time FIBO offers guided tours for physicians, physiotherapists, orthopaedists and sports physicians. Trade visitors interested specifically in FIBOmed exhibitors, i.e. in innovations from the health sector, can take part in free guided tours organised both on 19 and 20 April at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The number of participants is limited to 15 people per tour. Reservations can be made with Britta Langerfeld, britta.langerfeld@fibo.de, phone +49 (0) 211 90 191 335. For 2013, joint planning for a FIBOmed congress is already going ahead with MedCongress, a subsidiary of FIBO organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH.

In step with the times

With FIBOmed, the trade show is right in step with the times: The significant role which exercise should play in prevention has only recently been emphasised by scientists from the German Cancer Research Centre (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum - DKFZ) in Heidelberg. Excessive weight and obesity, which are mostly the result of a lack of physical exercise and too rich a diet, constitute serious risk factors in a large variety of cancers, a DKFZ publication says. They can even surpass smoking as the number one cancer risk, the researchers warn. "We have meanwhile reached a point where we must take obesity just as seriously as a cancer risk as smoking", says Chairman of the DKFZ Managing Board Professor Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler. And his colleague Professor Dr. Karen Steindorf pointed out: "Even if not resulting in noticeable loss of weight, physical exercise minimises the risk of cancer in corpulent people."

www.fibo.de

www.fibo-med.de

Download Press Release [doc | 114 kb]

Download Photo [jpg | 498 kb]

Press Contact:

Dr. Mike Seidensticker
Press Spokesman
+49 211 90191-128
mike.seidensticker@reedexpo.de

Nadine Lente
Press Officer
+49 211 90191-191
nadine.lente@reedexpo.de