Sport England Survey Shows Activity Levels Rising Before Lockdown
Sport England’s latest Active Lives Adult Survey has shown that activity levels among the population were on the rise before the coronavirus pandemic.
Results from the survey, which was conducted in the 12 months leading up to November 2019, showed that inactivity was falling before the outbreak and that 28.6 million adults in England were ‘active’ – something Sport England defines as doing at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week.
According to the organisation, that accounts for 63.3% of the nation’s population and is up 404,600 people on the previous 12 months.
The results also show there were 159,500 fewer inactive people – those not doing at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week – than the previous 12 months.
“That overall activity levels were at a record high across England at the end of last year is excellent news, particularly the strong growth among older adults, people with a disability and among those with long term health conditions,” said Tim Hollingsworth, CEO, Sport England.
“These are areas which Sport England has committed significant time, insight and investment into in recent years and it is encouraging that we were starting to see such growth there. “
Sport England has invested significantly in areas such as those with disabilities and those with long-term health conditions, with campaigns such as We Are Undefeatable.
However, the results also show that there are still inequalities amongst the public, linked to ethnicity and affluence, with those from ethnic backgrounds and people in lower socio-economic groups less likely to be active.
“Behind the overall positive picture, there remain areas of real concern,” added Hollingsworth.
“Not least the sobering reality that if you are well off you are far more likely to be active than if you are not, and the ongoing evidence of a significant ethnicity gap, where we are not seeing growth in activity levels among some ethnic groups.”
