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Manchester is the laziest city in Britain with 40% of people doing less than half an hour of exercise a MONTH

  • ‘Pandemic’ of inactivity in poor areas is leading to premature deaths
  • Manchester, Sandwell, the West Midlands, Salford and Bradford are laziest
  • Richmond upon Thames and Wokingham, Berkshire ranked the fittest

By
Sara Smyth
and Hugo Gye


PUBLISHED:

22:37 EST, 30 January 2014

|
UPDATED:

08:59 EST, 1 February 2014

Manchester is the laziest place in Britain with nearly half of residents exercising less than once a month, according to a new study.

The country’s increasingly sedentary lifestyle means that by 2030 the average person will use just a quarter more energy in a day than if they had stayed in bed.

And Mancunians are in the worst state of all, with 40 per cent doing less than half an hour of exercise a month – classing them as ‘inactive’.

Lazy: The results were worst in Manchester, Sandwell, the West Midlands, Salford and Bradford (pictured)

Nearby Salford and Sandwell in the
West Midlands were nearly as bad, with non-exercisers also making up
more than a third of the population in places such as Bradford, Slough
and Sunderland.

By contrast, Wokingham in Berkshire is the most active area, as 82 per cent of residents exercise at leasts once in every month.

Well-heeled
areas of London and the Home Counties such as Windsor, Kensington and
Oxfordshire also did well in the figures compiled by public health
experts Ukactive.

The ‘pandemic’ of inactivity in poor areas of England is leading to 17 per cent of premature deaths, the report said.

The
health group found that in the most inactive areas, there is an average
of 342 premature deaths per 100,000 people per year, compared with 242
in those where people exercise the most.

Fit: Even in the fittest areas of Britain –
the London borough of Richmond upon Thames (pictured) and Wokingham in Berkshire –
one in five people did not manage 30 minutes of exercise

Inactivity costs the economy in each
local authority £18 million per 100,000 people every year on average,
the study found. Cutting physical inactivity by just 1per cent a year
over a five-year period would save the UK economy just under £1.2
billion, it said.

Researchers
found that the most inactive local authorities have, on average, a
third fewer leisure facilities than the least inactive areas.

But
they said there is no link between levels of exercise and the amount of
green space in each region.

This contrasts with a report published
yesterday from the the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA),
which found a lack of green space meant people were more likely to
suffer ill health and walk less.

Research carried out by Ukactive has shown sedentary lifestyles mean that by 2030 the average person will use just a quarter more energy in a day than if they had stayed in bed

David Stalker, chief executive officer of Ukactive, said inactivity was ‘a distinct risk to public health’.

Fred Turok, chairman of Ukactive, said: ‘It’s no longer acceptable that physical inactivity remains the forgotten cause of death in the UK.

‘More deprived areas are faring worse in a physical inactivity pandemic – with no national strategy to improve our fitness levels, from before we take our first steps to our last.’

Lord Sebastian Coe, who is backing the report, said: ‘Physical inactivity currently accounts for nearly one fifth of premature deaths in the UK.

‘With projections showing that inactivity levels are due to increase by a further 15% by 2030, there is no doubt that the issue requires immediate national attention and urgent action.’

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Comments (36)

what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

Ash,

Manchester, United Kingdom,

moments ago

Or is Manchester the most honest city.

TheHerder,

HappyLand, United States,

moments ago

I’d have to agree with this. Just look at most of the man utd team this season.

Ian,

London, United Kingdom,

moments ago

i am from Manchester but now live in the South East. I do less than 30 mins exercise a week too. It’s nothing to be ashamed off. In fact I smoke too. That way I can get out of breathe without all the effort.

crouchingtiger,

bristol,

moments ago

I do enough exercise but I can see why lots of people in Manchester and Salford don’t. There’s hardly any nice areas to walk through, the cycle lanes are god awful and it’s bloody cold. I walk to work and spend half my time crossing busy roads and inhaling car fumes.

lee,

Manchester,

moments ago

Another great north vs south devide from the dm

johnnywag,

blackpool, United Kingdom,

moments ago

orr yeh, orr yeh

Delarge,

Wales, United Kingdom,

8 minutes ago

As a Welshman living in England, I must say that laziness and a lack of pride in ones physical shape is a major concern in England. Whereas we Welshman are ripped and powerful because of our rugby playing genetics, the English men are either fat and bloated or skinny and weak. And the women are usually in terrible shape and wouldn’t know what a gym or a pair of running trainers looks like.

baxter,

romford,

13 minutes ago

The government should put more parks out there for folk to go our running around in trainers and playing football with their kids and stuff like that. Ban ice cream vans from parks as it’s too fattening and give less active folk money inccentives to run aound a bit more, Have a man with a stopwatch checking how much a person runs in the park and then a reward of £2.27 for each measured mile run.

Naked,

Truth,

7 hours ago

Maybe it’s depression.

havanaJoe,

orlando, United States,

8 hours ago

In the year 2525…..

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