By Gabriella Payne
Last year’s lockdowns may have seen some people stack on a couple of extra kilos, but a new study has shown that Pakenham locals are still keeping themselves in shape after it was named as “one of the fittest cities in Australia”, according to data collected by MyProtein Australia.
Taking the country’s 50 largest cities, towns and areas into account (by population size), the study ranked Pakenham as the fifth fittest city with “an overall score of 27.4 out of 100” – making it clear that Pakenham residents are passionate about their health and wellbeing.
The results were determined by a number of fitness factors, including the number of gyms, online fitness searches and MyProtein nutrition sales in each area, which were compared against the number of residents.
Pakenham was found to be home to 140 gyms and 68.72 fitness searches per 1,000 people, and despite only accounting for 0.05 percent of MyProtein Australia’s national nutrition sales, the suburb came out on top, beating out capital cities such as Adelaide and Perth.
A spokesperson for MyProtein Australia said that it was impressive to see the amount of health and fitness conscious residents in Pakenham.
“As Pakenham is one of the fastest growing suburbs in the country, it’s no surprise that it has a fit population,” the spokesperson said.
“Pakenham typically attracts younger individuals and families, and these groups are often concerned with their fitness and keeping healthy.
Pakenham ranked highly thanks to its large number of gyms and large number of its population searching for fitness terms, beating larger cities as a result of its comparatively smaller population,” they said.
The study saw Byron Bay, NSW take out the crown as “Australia’s fittest city”, with 7.79 gyms and 347.18 fitness searches per 1,000 people – giving the city an overall fitness score of 70.01 out of 100.
Coming in at second, third and fourth place respectively were Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – proving that Pakenham is right up there in terms of fitness with some impressive competition.
MyProtein Australia’s spokesperson said that they planned to “revisit this study” in the future to see how each city’s fitness journey evolved, and while there’s always room to grow, the results proved that overall Australia is an active nation.
“When it comes to fitness, there is always room for improvement – but it’s safe to say that Australia is definitely a fit country overall,” the spokesperson said.
“The population of Australia cares about their health and making sure they are in the best shape, whether they’re hitting the gym, using supplements as part of a healthy diet or searching for fitness tips at home.”
