The National Sector Partners Group (NSPG) has issued the following response to the Active Lives Adult Survey from Sport England, published today (24 April)
The latest Active Lives Adult Survey shows a continued and steady increase in physical activity levels across the country and is a further reminder of the essential role the sport, recreation and physical activity sector plays in supporting the nation’s physical activity levels. However, despite the headline numbers, much more needs to be done to ensure more people can reap the benefits of engaging in physical activity and ensuring our sector can play its fullest role in driving this uptake.
As evidenced by the National Sector Partners Group (NSPG), the UK is currently 11th out of 15 comparable European nations for activity levels, and small increases such as this are not enough to make the UK the most active nation in Europe, with all the associated health and economic benefits that this would bring.
Our sector is responsible for generating £107.2bn in social value in England each year, including £10.5bn in secondary value by reducing cases of disease and relieving the huge pressure on health and social care every year. Studies show that physical activity helps to prevent 20 chronic conditions, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, many types of cancer, MSK conditions, depression and anxiety, and dementia.
However, the new findings show that significant inequalities remain in physical activity levels across demographics, and an alarming decrease among younger people aged 16 to 34. It is clear the current policy approach is failing to deliver meaningful increases in physical activity.
The outcome of the Government’s upcoming Spending Review, due to be announced in June, is pivotal to ensure the sport, recreation and physical activity sector can drive up these levels and provides the Government with an opportunity to demonstrate the value it places on the nation’s health and wellbeing and reducing the pressure on the NHS
The NSPG remains committed to working at pace with this Government to ensure it delivers an ambitious and practical strategy for increasing physical activity levels among people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, for the sake of the nation’s health, wellbeing and economic growth.
Huw Edwards, CEO of ukactive, said: “These figures show a slight increase in physical activity levels across England but as a nation we must demand more to ensure people from lower socio-economic and ethnic minority groups are supported to be active.
“For the second year running, fitness activities continue to drive activity levels and when combined with swimming figures, mean that gyms, pools and leisure centres provide the biggest source of activity other than walking.
“Fitness activities have seen an increase of 1.6% on the previous year (904,000 more adults), with participation in weights sessions (up 0.6%), gym sessions (up 0.9%) and the use of exercise machines (up 0.4%) all seeing significant growth.
“Combined with our recent market report which showed a record number of gym members in the UK, these figures provide irrefutable evidence of the essential role our sector is playing in driving physical activity levels, and demonstrates the growing demand from consumers to improve their physical, mental and social wellbeing through exercise in these spaces.
“Our members have driven this growth despite continuing to face significant operational pressures in the form of high energy costs, staffing, and the cost-of-living – doing all that they can to prevent communities at risk of losing vital access to support.
“The Spending Review represents a clear opportunity for the Government to recognise our sector’s potential and put in place the measures to capitalise on consumer demand, reduce our barriers to growth and turbocharge physical activity levels. Doing so would ensure the physical activity sector is a solution to help transform our nation’s health and economic growth.”
About the National Sector Partners Group
*The NSPG is formed of:
Active Partnerships
The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA)
The Sport for Development Coalition
The Sport and Recreation Alliance
ukactive
The Youth Sport Trust.
Through our collaborative work as sector partners, we aim to engage decision makers to improve the operating landscape for the sector and embed sport, recreation and physical activity as a key contributor to wider public policy objectives.
More People More Active More Often
