RAISING awareness of arthritis is one of the many tasks the Bendigo Arthritis Club members take upon themselves to achieve.
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The group, made up of more than 100 members, hosted its monthly meeting last week just in time for Arthritis Awareness Week.
President Helen Grainger said one of the biggest misconceptions with arthritis was that the condition only affected elderly people.
She said 58.4 per cent of people with arthritis are in their prime working age while 3.6 per cent were youths.
"Juvenile arthritis is not uncommon," she said.
"It does affect young children and teenagers, and the arthritis association supports those people."
Ms Grainger said a popular form of treatment for arthritis was warm water exercise classes and Nordic walking.
"A study has found that warm water exercise is just as beneficial for arthritis as land exercises," she said.
Ms Grainger said the club hosts warm water exercise classes five times a week at the Scope pool in the mornings and Anne Claude pool in the evenings.