Percentage of physically active and inactive adults - active adults

What this data shows:

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality accounting for 6% of deaths globally. People who have a physically active lifestyle have a 20-35% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and stroke compared to those who have a sedentary lifestyle. Regular physical activity is also associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and colon/breast cancer and with improved mental health. In older adults physical activity is associated with increased functional capacities. The estimated direct cost of physical inactivity to the NHS across the UK is over £1.6 billion per year. The Chief Medical Officer currently recommends that adults undertake 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate activity per week, in bouts of 10 minutes or more. The overall amount of activity is more important than the type, intensity or frequency.(1) Since January 2009, the Department of Health has commissioned Sport England to include a number of questions on wider participation in physical activity in the Active People Survey in order to be able to monitor the CMO recommendations. Evidence for the effectiveness of interventions to increase the population levels of physical activity is summarised by Kahn et al.(2) 1. Department of Health, 2011. Start Active, Stay Active: A report on physical activity for health from the four home countries’ Chief Medical Officers see: http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/152108/dh_128210.pdf 2. Kahn E, Ramsey L, Brownson R, Heath G, Howze E, Powell K, et al. ‘The Effectiveness of Interventions to Increase Physical Activity: A Systematic Review’. Am J Prev Med 2002; 22 (4S).

How the data is gathered:

The number of respondents aged 16 and over, with valid responses to questions on physical activity, doing at least 150 “equivalent” minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity per week in bouts of 10 minutes or more in the previous 28 days expressed as a percentage of the total number of respondents aged 16. The counts were weighted to be representative of the whole population at each level of geography.

The colour coding for this indicator uses a red, blue and green colour key to indicate how the individual values in local authorities compare. Comparisons are with local authorities of similar socioeconomic status. Upper tier local authorities are allocated to ten groups according to their index of multiple deprivation, allowing their indicator values to be compared with 14 others that have similar socioeconomic status. Green denotes values that are statistically significantly better than the average for the deprivation group and red denotes values that are statistically significantly worse

More information about the data source:

It is not possible to compare results with indicators of physical activity presented in previous publications due to changes in the methods for collecting data on equivalent minutes of physical activity and a wider definition used for what is classed as moderate intensity physical activity.

Data Source:

Active People Survey, Sport England.

Data Period:

2013

Further Information:

For further information please see Indicator 2.13i at www.phoutcomes.info.