Londoners are ready to follow advice about physical activity, but the health system does not yet help everyone to take part in a fair and consistent way.
Across the capital, health inequalities remain stark. Life expectancy, quality of life, and access to services vary considerably depending on where people live. We also know that opportunities to be physically active are uneven, with factors such as childhood environment and family income having a major influence on participation.
In short, London continues to face a physical inactivity crisis.
The evidence is clear: regular physical activity can prevent or improve many health conditions, reduce the risk of serious long-term illness, and support mental wellbeing.
Addressing inactivity in London would help prevent long-term health conditions, keep people healthier for longer, and reduce pressure on NHS staff and services, allowing resources to focus where they are most needed.
In response, London Sport has produced the report: ‘Fit for the Future: making physical activity routine in London’s healthcare system’, drawing on a recent system review and public poll to highlight how physical activity can be embedded across London’s health and care system. It brings together evidence on current practice, public readiness, and the system enablers needed to inform strategic action.
Click here to read the full report.
The release of this report follows a recent launch event for the London ‘Fit For The Future’ framework, developed as part of London Sport’s collaboration with the London Health and Care Partnership and with the Active Partnership National Organisation. The framework, co-developed by colleagues across London’s health and physical activity sectors and in collaboration with the national ‘Moving Together’ project, provides guidance for developing the use of physical activity within health and care services.
Public readiness to act
In partnership with market research and insight agency, Opinium, London Sport conducted an omnibus poll of adults across London and the UK between 6th and 16th June 2025. The poll captured the views of 2,000 UK adults and 500 London residents.
Key findings include:
- Advice received: 34% of Londoners reported receiving advice on physical activity from a healthcare professional in the past five years, compared with 20% nationally.
- Willingness to act: 69% of Londoners said they would follow advice to take up physical activity, compared with 57% nationally.
- Trusted sources: Healthcare professionals remain the most influential source of advice in London: General Practitioners (GPs) 39%, mental health practitioners 26%, and physiotherapists 24%.
- Moving from intent to action: The London Fit for the Future Framework, developed through a co-design process with partners across healthcare, physical activity, local authority, voluntary, academic, and technology sectors, highlights that while advice can generate intent, a range of system factors are needed to consistently convert this intent into sustained, equitable behaviour change. There was strong consensus that a cultural shift is needed – moving physical activity from the margins to the core of health and care.
Recommendations for system-led change
Based on these findings, the report sets out three practical recommendations for the health and physical activity sectors:
- Make physical activity advice a standard part of care – It should be expected in every relevant setting, not dependent on individual interest or discretion.
- Move beyond advice to supported pathways – ensure individuals have clear, practical, accessible and supported routes to engage in physical activity.
- Distribute responsibility across the system – promotion and enablement of physical activity should be shared across the wider system, rather than resting with a small group of professionals.
By aligning policy, workforce, decision-makers, monitoring and evaluation, communication, technology, and partnerships, London can move from fragmented delivery to a coherent system that turns public intent into sustained, equitable activity.
Success depends on a holistic, unified system
Policymakers, practitioners, and communities must work together to make physical activity a routine part of health and care in London. Success depends on the system working as a whole, rather than in fragmented parts.
As plans for implementing the Government’s Fit for the Future: 10-year Health Plan develop, London has the opportunity to become a national exemplar for embedding physical activity into healthcare through aligned leadership, workforce capability, and partnerships.
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About London Sport
London Sport is a not-for-profit organisation, part of a national network. We are a strategic leader, working to remove barriers to physical activity by facilitating policy, funding and delivery. London Sport champions physical activity in London’s most deprived communities. We share insights, influence decision makers and allocate funding to effect change.
Why we exist
Physical inactivity significantly increases the risk of developing serious, life-shortening health conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. In some areas, people live 12 years longer in good health than others.
Those in our most deprived communities face the greatest inequalities and barriers to leading an active life. If we can help people be active, we can improve mental health, tackle obesity, boost children’s academic performance, reduce pressure on the NHS, and unlock an estimated £10 billion in economic and social value for the city.
For more information on London Sport, visit www.londonsport.org.
Media Contacts
Lucy Bishop:[email protected]
