Fear of being laughed at stops women working out

MILLIONS of women are not taking enough exercise because they are afraid of being ‘judged’, MPs warn.

They worry they will be ridiculed for being sweaty, out of breath or struggling at the back when jogging or at the gym.

Some women have taken to running in secret on treadmills installed in sheds in their back garden because they are too ashamed to do it in public.

A report by MPs on the Commons’ Health Select Committee also highlights how girls as young as ten shun PE classes because they worry about their body image.

Figures show that just over two-thirds of women, 68 per cent, do not take the recommended level of exercise of two and a half hours over the course of a week.

Experts have warned that a lack of exercise is as harmful as tobacco and contrib-

‘Run on a treadmill in their shed’

utes to up to one in six deaths in the UK. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, chairman of the committee, said: ‘It is unacceptable that this gender gap has been ignored for so long. We need to be out there ensuring that girls can access the type of sport they want to take part in.’

One woman interviewed by the committee was told by her male GP she was too fat to do the London Marathon, even though she had run 18 miles the week previously.

Julie Creffield, a campaigner who encourages women to exercise, said she was determined to ‘prove him wrong’ and finished the event in 2013.

Mrs Creffield said many women were afraid to join running clubs or gyms because they didn’t want to be the one ‘struggling at the back’. She told MPs: ‘Women tell me they run on a treadmill in their shed because they don’t want to be seen in public, and that’s part of the problem.’