ABSTRACT
There is now increasing concern within the European Union to promote the health and well-being of those living and working in its Member States. This concern is shared by the other countries of Europe, and has been expressed in part through public health initiatives and in part through workplace health promotion. The evolution and history of employee exercise programmes is the story of a convergence of a waning investment in industrial sports and social clubs, and a growing interest in workplace health promotion programmes. From relatively modest beginnings at the start of the twentieth century, when small numbers of organizations were able to provide land for employee recreation and sport, by the mid 1970s industrial sports and social clubs had become more commonplace. A clear distinction needs to be made between the reasons given by organizations for implementing employee exercise programmes, and the demonstrated benefits of such programmes for both individuals and organizations.
