The situation is looking rather desperate: an estimated 25 per cent of the UK population are currently classed as inactive – with projections showing that inactivity levels are likely to increase by a further 15 per cent by 2030 – while physical inactivity is already cited by WHO as the fourth leading cause of global mortality.
In its new report, Turning the Tide of Inactivity, ukactive has also identified that inactive people spend 38 per cent more days in hospital than active people and visit the doctor 6 per cent more often. This is costing the UK economy £8.2bn a year (see HCM March 14, p28).
In response, ukactive has called on the government to place physical inactivity as a standalone public health risk, separate from obesity and weight management. It wants public health teams to prioritise and resource physical inactivity programmes to the same level as other top tier public health risks such as smoking and alcohol abuse.
ukactive has set the target of increasing levels of physical activity by 1 per cent a year for five years; as well as improving public health and reducing mortality, this could save the NHS £1.2bn.
It’s an excellent idea, but how can it be done? And how can individual health club operators play their part?
A separate piece of research by Bristol University found poor education, low household income and local area deprivation to be barriers to activity. So too are the availability of facilities and the weather: although in some cases a smaller number of high quality, well-designed facilities have been effective in driving down inactivity levels, ukactive found that in general, areas with the highest levels of inactivity have one-third fewer leisure facilities than areas with lower levels of inactivity.
The industry will have to find a way of connecting with inactive people, creating a new breed of activity that appeals to this audience. And with inactivity highest among the lower socioeconomic groups, where price is a barrier, these activities need to be cheap – or free. So what are the next steps? We ask the experts...