Is licensure coming to the fitness industry?
A. The call for licensure is typically driven by two factors: • Failure of an industry to provide for significant self-regulation. • A significant risk to public health that requires government intervention. The determination that licensure is required is made through a process called a “sunrise review” that determines the qualifications, skills and knowledge required to work in the proposed licensed profession, and if there are any existing recognized certification standards in the field (usually an NCCA-accredited organization or organizations). Currently, only Louisiana (with its licensure for Clinical Exercise Physiologists) has legislation regarding licensure and the fitness industry.
