New national health data released by the Government shows that levels of physical activity have remained unchanged in the last four years.
The figures, published as part of the annual Health Survey for England, also reveal that those in higher income brackets are far more likely to be physically active than those with lower incomes.
The Chief Medical Officers’ current guidelines state that adults should spend at least 150 minutes per week in moderately intensive activity, or 75 minutes at vigorous intensity, while children should be moderately active for at least an hour every day.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre found that only two thirds of men and just over half of women meet these recommendations, and concluded there was “no Olympic legacy yet apparent”.
The Survey also reveals that only 21% of boys and 16% of girls meet the guidelines – a worryingly low figure which echoes other studies which have assessed the health of children in England.
Previous research by the National Child Measurement Programme has found that more than one in five children are overweight or obese when they start primary school, rising to a third of children entering secondary school.
These figures will be taken into account by a cross-party commission of MPs seeking to reverse the trends towards physical inactivity.
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