Awarding body Active IQ has given its backing to two clinically-focused qualifications offered by Health and Fitness Education.

The two organisations have teamed up to make sure the latter’s Level 4 qualifications related to lower back pain and obesity and diabetes remain relevant.

Lee Cain, managing director of Health and Fitness Education, said that people with these skills are of “increasing demand”.

“However, students require some high level clinical input and interaction and we didn’t feel that in-house we could completely fulfil this specialist area,” he said.

Cain added: “We looked at a few options and chose Active IQ as its suite of learning resources, access to medical experts and scalability for these smaller yet more specialist courses were exactly what we needed.”

Dr Dane Vishnubala was hired as Active IQ’s chief medical officer to ensure its course content spoke to the health issues of the nation, such as obesity.

He said: “As a GP, I’m hugely appreciative of the work personal trainers and gym owners are doing, exploring new ways to work with clients and members to counteract their health issues.

“The more that can be done in gyms and clubs, the better for the NHS.”