Australia has an obesity problem! Monash university has rounded up some startling statistics about the state of our waist lines in Australia. Some of the more concerning numbers include

- Obesity as being the number one cause of premature death.
- 14 million Aussies are overweight or obese

At the current trend apparently in 12 years time 80% of all adults will be overweight. Very scary stuff. A solution? well maybe this marketing initative that was first seen in Moscow Russia may help. The city governments of Moscow worked with their train system tube and came up with an idea to give away free train tickets. The catch? Well you had to do squats for 30 times. Now proper squats that go all the way down and back up are not easy to do. A typical squat requires you to lift your entire body weight using the biggest muscle group in your body being your thights. The cost for a train ticket is 92 cents. So each squat essentially earns you around 3 cents worth of effort. This idea is totally awesome and we think that someone in Australia should copy this effort.

In fact I am surprised that other companies have not taken up a stunt similar to this to promote anything from gym memberships, exercise equipment, health foods or any other health related product or service. Why not give away a small promotional item such as a stress apple?

A secondary benefit is that if it was Winter time then this not only encourages commuters to get a healthy work out but they will also get a nice change to warm up too! It is surely a win win. Here are some fun pictures of the system at work.