(Un)Fit Britain
(Un)Fit Britain
While most Brits say they exercise at least once a week (65%), 35% say they exercise less than once a week.
- 24% of UK adults exercise more than 3 times a week
- 27% exercise 2-3 times a week
- 14% exercise once a week
The government’s chief medical officer recommends that adults should do a minimum of 30 minutes moderate-intensity physical activity, five days a week.
Demographic breakdown
- Men and women were about as likely as each other to exercise in general but men were slightly more likely to exercise more than 3 times a week (26%) than women (22%)
- Unsurprisingly, the young are more energetic than the old with 76% of 18-34 year olds exercising at least once a week compared to only 56% of over 55 year olds
Regional breakdown
- London and Wales are the most exercise-happy regions in the UK with 70% in each saying they exercise at least once a week and only 30% saying they exercise less than once a week
- The South West has the highest percentage saying they exercise more than 3 times a week (29%) followed by London on 27%.
- In Scotland and Northern Ireland, only 18% of people exercise more than 3 times a week.
Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 2,017 UK adults aged 18+ from 7th to 10th October 2011.
Interview Method and Sample
This survey is conducted online by CAWI (computer aided web interviewing), using Opinium?s online research panel of circa 25,000 individuals. This research is run from a representative sample of UK adults (aged 18+ in England, Scotland and Wales). The sample is scientifically defined from pre-collected registration data containing gender, age (18-34, 35-54, and 55+), region (North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), working status and social grade to match the latest published ONS figures.
Opinium also takes into account differential response rates from the different demographic groups, to ensure the sample is representative.
