Sport England hail the impact of Active Lives Survey across the country
The latest Active Lives Survey shows that, between November 2021 and November 2022, 63.1% (29.1m) of the population met the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of doing 150 minutes, or more, of moderate intensity physical activity a week – an increase of 1.7% year on year. The survey was released on Thursday (20 April 2023).
Nick Pontefract, Sport England’s chief strategy officer said that the figures have “bounced back earlier than we expected them to” and that the news was “a huge positive” for sport and physical activity.
The number of people classed as inactive – averaging fewer than 30 minutes a week – has fallen over the last year by 1.4%, to 25.8% of the population (11.9m). This remains slightly above pre-pandemic levels but is in line with where they were in 2015-16.
Young adults’ activity levels are up 3% this year but have dropped overall and the pandemic, along with other cultural issues, has destabilised that group.
“We’re seeing a long-term but steady decline in participation levels for younger people and we’re not underestimating how disruptive that time [the pandemic] has been,” said Pontefract.
“It’s also an age group that is seeing and feeling social and cultural changes more than any other age group – the challenges that young people face leaving school or university. It is a difficult environment but there’s a lot of change those people are subjected to.
“What they want to do with their time and disposable income and how they see their lives is very different to even a decade ago. Sport and physical activity have to compete with that and really rapidly changing social and cultural battles – we’re not always winning that battle with people’s hearts and minds.”
The number of people walking for leisure has fallen from 12 months ago, but the activity is seeing 2.6m more walkers than before the pandemic (November 2018-19) and 4.6m more than six years ago (November 2015-16).
Participation in cycling remains higher on pre-pandemic levels (by more than 300,000) but the popularity of running has dropped, continuing a medium-term trend, having fallen in use by almost 1m people since November 2015-16.
While swimming has seen significant recovery, levels remain below pre-pandemic, and Sport England sees the downward trend continuing, down by more than 1m since Nov 15-16.
Team sports were the big winner post-pandemic, as people could not socialise and play together for a lengthy period starting in 2020. Activity in this category has recovered with a stabilisation of around 3.1m players taking part in sports like football, rugby, netball and cricket.
“Alongside our significant and targeted investment of both government and National Lottery funding, the monumental effort of those working across sport and physical activity, both professionals and volunteers, has played a huge part here,” said Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England CEO.
“I would like to pay tribute to their work in supporting the recovery and getting more people moving once again.”
Activity levels fell across all places during the pandemic. However, Covid-19’s impact on activity levels was greatest in the most deprived places.
Pontefract commented on that and said there was “no single answer” why people from less affluent backgrounds struggled to engage with sport but he did say it was down partly to the “cost of getting active” as some sports demand equipment and other expenses.
“The challenge for the sport and physical activity sector is how we recognise that and adapt to it and be really mindful of what it feels like in that section of society to get active and fit activity in among the other demands and stresses and strains of their lives,” he said.
While age and mobility continue to be a factor for many, there are now 1.3m (5.0%) more active 55-74-year-olds and just over half a million (7.8%) more active people aged 75+ than there were in November 2015-16.
Sport England’s chief strategy officer said “as people get healthier over the generations they’re able to carry on their sporting activities for longer” but on the flip side women and ethnic minorities are still at a disadvantage.
“Women who don’t feel safe going to the gym, don’t feel safe going out running at night – what can sport and physical activity providers do to understand and adapt and adjust to that as well,” Pontefract said.
“It is our responsibility to find different ways into those communities. We have seen that be successful when we have been able to get different kinds of support into community groups that are trusted locally, that’s when you can start to bring about genuine change.”
