Data released last week from Sport England’s latest Active Lives survey showed almost 62% of adults are regularly meeting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) guidelines for physical activity, marginally ahead of the national average.
CMO recommendations suggest adults should take part in 150 minutes of moderate or higher intensity physical activity per week, with London outperforming national data that shows 60.6% of adults across the country meeting CMO guidelines.
Beneath headline figures, however, the data points to significant inequalities in participation between London’s 33 Local Authority areas, with 73.5% of adults in Hammersmith & Fulham achieving the 150 minute benchmark (among the five highest-ranked Local Authority areas nationally), as compared to 50.2% in Barking & Dagenham (within the ten lowest-ranked Local Authority areas nationally).
Tim Copley, London Sport Director of Insight and Performance, said:
“While this data suggests an encouraging overall picture for London, the inequalities apparent at Local Authority level shows clearly the importance of delivering effective, targeted interventions to enable more Londoners in every part of the capital to lead physically active lives. We should also be conscious that positive data can hide deeper inequity among particular population groups; as such, even where participation rates are high, it is critical that we delve deeper to understand the complexities of the wider picture.
“Our ambition of making London the most physically active city in the world is clear; what this data highlights clearly is the importance of ensuring that vision is delivered to the benefit of the whole of the capital, not only those areas that already benefit from higher levels of participation in physical activity and sport.”
This data relates to the period May 2016 to May 2017 and was conducted and released by Sport England on 12 October 2017. Detailed analysis of the latest Active Lives data and other research is available via the London Sport Insight and Data Portal.
