Regular physical activity is important in achieving and maintaining optimum weight, good health and overall well-being. Physically active people have reduced risks of a range of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, osteoporosis, depression and dementia.¹

The Chief Medical Officer recommends that adults should be active at moderate or greater intensity for at least 30 minutes a day on at least five days a week. Children and young people should be active at moderate or greater intensity for at least 60 minutes every day. Activities include lifestyle activities such as housework and manual labour, as well as structured exercise and sport.¹

Although more men and women in England are achieving physical activity recommendations than ten years ago, levels are still low.² There appears to have been little change over recent years in the proportion of English children fulfilling physical activity recommendations.³

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• Most adults in London are not sufficiently active. In 2008, only 38% of men and 29% of women (16 years and over) in London met the minimum recommendations for physical activity in adults. These percentages were similar to the England average. ²



• Less than a quarter of Londoners regularly participate in sport and active recreation. In 2008/09, 21% of adults in London participated in sport and active recreation for 30 minutes, at least 3 days a week. Participation rates in London boroughs ranged from 15% in Newham to 31% in Kensington and Chelsea. Nationally, the participation rate in sport and active recreation was 22% in 2008/09. These results are from the Active People Survey’s Indicator 1, which includes recreational walking and cycling, but not the wider spectrum of physical activity such as ‘active travel,’ housework, gardening, etc.⁴



• The majority of London's children are insufficiently active. The Health Survey for England (HSfE) found that, in 2008, 33% of boys and 24% of girls (aged 2-15) in London fulfilled the physical activity target for children in the previous week. These results were similar to the England average.² Results from 2007 had shown that children in London had the lowest levels of physical activity of any region in England. ⁵ However, as significant changes were made to the questionnaire in 2008, results are not directly comparable with previous years.²



• Based on average healthcare costs of five diseases related to physical inactivity, the cost of inactivity for London’s primary care trusts (PCTs) has been estimated to be about £1.8 million per 100,000 population.⁶

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The government’s target, set in 2002, for 70% of the population to be reasonably active by 2020 is outlined in Game plan: a strategy for delivering Government's sport and physical activity objectives.

A new framework for the delivery of physical activity for adults has been set in Be active, be healthy: a plan for getting a nation moving. Developed for the period leading up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond, the plan suggests how local authorities and PCTs can encourage more physical activity among their local populations.

The Mayor of London’s commitment to deliver a sporting legacy from the 2012 Games is outlined in A sporting future for London. The aim is to achieve a sustained increase in participation in sport and physical activity in the capital.

NHS London, in partnership with other organisations, has a key role in changing physical activity behaviour in the city as part of the legacy of the 2012 Games. The strategy is summarised in Go London: an active & healthy London for 2012 and beyond.

National initiatives to promote physical activity in the community include the Government’s Free swimming programme, Walking for health and Change4Life schemes.

Launched in 2009, Let's get moving is a behaviour change intervention based on NICE guidance. It endorses the delivery of brief interventions for physical activity in primary care as both clinically and cost effective in the long term.

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• British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health
• Centre for Sport, Physical Education and Activity Research
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Department of Health
• Greater London Authority: Olympics and Sport
• Pro-active London
• South East Public Health Observatory
• Sport England

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1. At least five a week: evidence of the impact of physical activity and it's relationship to health. London: Department of Health, 2004
2. Health Survey for England 2008: physical activity and fitness
3. Health Survey for England 2007: latest trends
4. Active people survey 3. London: Sport England, 2009
5. Health Survey for England 2007. Healthy lifestyles: knowledge, attitudes and behaviour
6. Be active, be healthy: a plan for getting a nation moving. London: Department of Health, 2009

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