Physical activity

Just over 6 in 10 adults in England achieved 150+ minutes of activity per week.  The coronavirus pandemic resulted in a drop in activity levels due to the unprecedented restrictions applied to everyday life but levels have stabilised.

Activity can be broken down further into 3 categories

• Inactive – less than 30 minutes per week

• Fairly active – 30-149 minutes per week

• Active – at least 150 minutes per week

In 2019 new guidelines on the amount of activity recommended for health were published by the Chief Medical Officers of the four UK countries. This states that:

• Adults (aged 19 and over) should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week, or a combination of both.

• Adults should also aim to build strength on at least two days a week.

• Children and young people (aged 5 to 18) should aim to be physically active for at least 60 minutes per day across the week.

Physical inactivity

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality accounting for 6% of deaths globally.

Inactivity can be broken down further into 3 categories:

• Not enough – 1-29 minutes of activity per week

• Light intensity only

• No activity at all in the last 28 days

Sport England run 2 surveys - Active Lives Adult, published twice a year, and Active Lives Children and Young People published annually. 

Based on the Adult survey Active Lives | Home (sportengland.org), for the period November 2020-2021:

Location – when compared to England, North West and Greater Manchester, Bury recorded the highest percentage of adults as active (for at least 150 minutes per week).

• Age – in Bury, of those recorded as inactive (active for less than 30 minutes per week), 40% were aged 75-84 and 19% aged 45-54.  71% of those recorded as active (for at least 150 minutes per week) were aged 45-54 and 42% were aged 75-84.  In England, activity levels generally decrease with age, with the sharpest decrease coming at age 75+.  The drop associated with the pandemic has now been recovered.  Walking for leisure has been key for the 55-74 and 75+ age groups.

• Disability or long term health condition – in Bury, of those recorded as inactive (active for less than 30 minutes per week), 50% were recorded as disabled or had a long term health condition and 19% had no disability or long term health condition.  45% of those recorded as active (for at least 150 minutes per week) were recorded as disabled and 68% had no disability.

• Education – in Bury, of those recorded as inactive (active for less than 30 minutes per week), 53% had no qualifications and 15% were qualified to Level 4 and above.  71% of those recorded as active (for at least 150 minutes per week) had qualifications at Level 4 and above. Please note active data are not available for Bury for those with no qualifications.

• Ethnicity – the data for Bury is incomplete.  In Greater Manchester, of those recorded as inactive (active for less than 30 minutes per week), 42% were Asian (excluding Chinese) and 18% were of mixed ethnicity. 70% of those recorded as active (for at least 150 minutes per week) were of mixed ethnicity and 46% Asian (excluding Chinese).

• Gender – in Bury, of those recorded as inactive (active for less than 30 minutes per week), 23% were male and 27% female.  65% of those recorded as active (for at least 150 minutes per week) were male and 59% female. Please note data are not available for Bury for those recording their gender as ‘in another way’.

• Social status – in Bury, of those recorded as inactive (active for less than 30 minutes per week), 40% were from NS-Sec 6-8 (lower) and 16% from NS SeC 1-2 (higher).  72% of those recorded as active (for at least 150 minutes per week) were from NS SeC 1-2 (higher) and 45% from NS-Sec 6-8 (lower).  In England, those in routine/semi-routine jobs and those who are long-term unemployed or have never worked (NS-SEC 6-8) are the least likely to be active (52%).

In 2020, 1 in 3 children leaving primary school were already overweight or living with obesity with 1 in 5 living with obesity.

The activity levels of children and young people in Bury compared significantly worse to England in 2018/19 and 2020/21 but as can be seen in the figure below, there has been a sharp increase in activity levels in 2021/22 to almost match the figures for England.

Obesity

Tackling obesity is one of the greatest long-term health challenges this country faces. In 2020, around two-thirds (63%) of adults were above a healthy weight, and of those half were living with obesity (having a BMI greater than or equal to 30kg/m²).

Obesity is associated with reduced life expectancy and is a risk factor for a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, at least 12 kinds of cancer, liver, and respiratory disease, and can also impact on mental health. The risk and severity of these diseases increases with a higher body mass index (BMI).

Preventing obesity and putting in place support for people living with overweight or obesity is a priority for the Government. In July 2020 the Department of Health and Social Care published a strategy which outlines actions the government will take to tackle the causes of obesity and help adults and children to live healthier lives.

Keeping active in Bury

• Keep active - Bury Council

• Keeping Fit & Active | The Bury Directory

Links

• Active Lives | Home (sportengland.org)

• Everybody active, every day: framework for physical activity - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Part 5: Physical activity - NDRS (digital.nhs.uk)

• Physical Activity - Data - OHID (phe.org.uk)

• Physical activity | Topic | NICE

• Physical activity guidelines - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Physical activity: applying All Our Health - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Public health profiles - OHID (phe.org.uk)