40% of people stay inactive
INACTIVITY is putting the health of thousands of Halton residents at risk according to latest figures from Public Health England.
The statistics, drawn from Sport England’s Active Lives Survey for 2015-16, said 40.3% of the borough’s population take part in less than the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity every week.
Across England, the average figure was 34.6%.
A quarter of respondents (25%) said they had less than half an hour.
The number of residents considered to be ‘fairly active or more’, ie having at least 30 minutes activity, was 75%.
The figures were an improvement from the previous set of data when Halton ranked as the 10th most inactive place in England and a whopping 51.5% of the population did less than the recommended 150 minutes physical activity. ●
Public Health England published the data as the British Heart Foundation released a report that found that more than 20m residents around the UK are physically inactive, about 40% of the population.
The charity warned that this raises the risk of heart disease and costs the NHS up to £1.2bn a year.
Dr Mike Knapton, British Heart Foundation associate medical director, said: “Physical inactivity is one of the most sig- nificant global health crises of the moment.
“Levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour in the UK remain stubbornly high, and combined these two risk factors present a substantial threat to our cardiovascular health and risk of early death.
“Making physical activity easier and more accessible for all is of paramount importance if we are to reduce the burden of inactivity-related ill health.”