Summary
The White Paper on Sport recognises that doping poses a threat to the health of those involved in sports and ‘it calls on sport organisations to develop rules of good practice to ensure that young sportsmen and sportswomen are better informed and educated of doping substances.
Recognising that the fight against doping requires a coordinated transnational response, our research project will establish a network of partners across Europe. The aim of this network will be to provide evidence on the prevalence of doping within health and fitness centres across Europe and collate information on national anti-doping practice within the health and fitness industry. Our project will provide the evidence base for future targeted interventions within the industry and a network of best practice to further the fight against doping.
Establishing the prevalence of doping in the European health and fitness industry requires a primary data collection technique combining a quantitative and qualitative research methodology. The method will involve undertaking questionnaires and structured and semi-structured interviews of health and fitness club members from a randomised sample. This primary data collection will provide the statistical prevalence of doping.
