Physical inactivity levels in adults aged 40 to 60 in England 2015 to 2016
Published 24 August 2017
© Crown copyright 2017
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1. Introduction
This publication presents an analysis of previously unpublished data from Sport England’s Active Lives survey[footnote 1], to look specifically at brisk walking levels and physical inactivity in people aged between 40 and 60 in England in 2015 to 2016.
These analyses were undertaken to support Public Health England’s One You Active 10 campaign[footnote 2]. All analyses for this release were carried out by Public Health England. Sport England’s Active Lives survey[footnote 1] is designed to measure participation in sport and physical activity in England.
The Active Lives survey was conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of Sport England which commissioned the survey, with additional funding from Public Health England, Arts Council England and the Department of Transport.
2. Brisk walking
Analysis of data on brisk walking in adults aged 40 to 60 from the Active Lives survey results for 2015 to 2016 shows:
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4 out of 10 (41%) adults aged 40 to 60 in England walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace (Table 1)
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44.9% of men and 37.9% of women aged 40 to 60 in England walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace (Table 1)
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London reported the highest proportion of adults aged 40 to 60 that walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace (44%), with those in the South West reporting the lowest proportion (36.8%) (Table 2)
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The North West reported the highest proportion of men aged 40 to 60 (46.9%) that walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace (Table 3)
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London reported the highest proportion for women aged 40 to 60 (42%) (Table 4)
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The South West reported the lowest proportions of both men and women aged 40 to 60 that walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace.
See section 5.5 for a definition of brisk walking
Table 1: Proportion of adults aged 40 to 60 that walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace by sex
| Adults aged 40 to 60 | No brisk walk | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| Men | 44.9% | 44.3% | 45.4% |
| Women | 37.9% | 37.4% | 38.3% |
| Persons | 41.3% | 41.0% | 41.7% |
Table 2: Proportion of adults aged 40 to 60 that walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace by region
| Region | No brisk walk | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| London | 44.0% | 42.8% | 45.1% |
| East of England | 43.3% | 42.3% | 44.2% |
| North West | 42.8% | 41.9% | 43.8% |
| North East | 42.6% | 40.9% | 44.3% |
| West Midlands | 41.7% | 40.6% | 42.8% |
| East Midlands | 41.1% | 40.1% | 42.2% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 41.0% | 39.8% | 42.3% |
| South East | 39.0% | 38.2% | 39.8% |
| South West | 36.8% | 35.8% | 37.9% |
| England | 41.3% | 41.0% | 41.7% |
Table 3: Proportion of men aged 40 to 60 that walk less than ten minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace by region
| Region | No brisk walk | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| North West | 46.9% | 45.5% | 48.3% |
| East of England | 46.2% | 44.7% | 47.8% |
| London | 46.1% | 44.3% | 47.8% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 45.5% | 43.5% | 47.6% |
| West Midlands | 45.5% | 43.7% | 47.2% |
| North East | 44.5% | 42.0% | 47.1% |
| South East | 44.0% | 42.7% | 45.3% |
| East Midlands | 43.2% | 41.6% | 44.9% |
| South West | 41.0% | 39.3% | 42.7% |
| England | 44.9% | 44.3% | 45.4% |
Table 4: Proportion of women aged 40 to 60 that walk less than 10 minutes continuously each month at a brisk pace by region
| Region | No brisk walk | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| London | 42.0% | 40.5% | 43.5% |
| North East | 40.7% | 38.5% | 43.0% |
| East of England | 40.3% | 39.0% | 41.6% |
| East Midlands | 39.1% | 37.7% | 40.4% |
| North West | 38.9% | 37.7% | 40.2% |
| West Midlands | 38.0% | 36.5% | 39.5% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 36.7% | 35.0% | 38.4% |
| South East | 34.0% | 33.0% | 35.1% |
| South West | 32.8% | 31.5% | 34.2% |
| England | 37.9% | 37.4% | 38.3% |
See section 5.8 for an explanation of the 95% confidence intervals used
3. Physical inactivity
Analysis of data on physical inactivity in adults aged 40 to 60 from the Active Lives survey results for 2015 to 2016 shows:
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one in 5 (19.7%) of 40 to 60 year olds (3 million adults) are physically inactive (Table 5)
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18.9% of men (1.43 million) and 20.4% of women (1.58 million) aged 40 to 60 years old are physically inactive (Table 5)
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there is a socio economic inequality in physical inactivity, with 32.9% of adults aged 40 to 60 from the most deprived areas being classed as physically inactive, compared to 11.3% in the least deprived areas (Table 6)
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rates of physical inactivity vary across broad ethnic groups with the highest to lowest being Asian (29%), Chinese (28.9%), Black (27.9%), White – Other (21.4%) and White – British (18.2%) (Table 7)
See section 5.6 for a definition of physical inactivity
Table 5: Proportion of physically inactive adults aged 40 to 60 by sex
| Adults aged 40 to 60 | % Inactive | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| Men | 18.9% | 18.5% | 19.3% |
| Women | 20.4% | 20.0% | 20.8% |
| Persons | 19.7% | 19.4% | 20.0% |
Table 6: Proportion of physically inactive adults aged 40 to 60 by deprivation
| Adults aged 40 to 60 | % Inactive | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| Most deprived decile | 32.9% | 31.8% | 34.0% |
| Second most deprived decile | 25.0% | 24.0% | 26.0% |
| Third more deprived decile | 22.7% | 21.7% | 23.6% |
| Fourth more deprived decile | 21.1% | 20.2% | 22.0% |
| Fifth more deprived decile | 18.0% | 17.1% | 18.9% |
| Fifth less deprived decile | 16.6% | 15.8% | 17.5% |
| Fourth less deprived decile | 15.8% | 15.0% | 16.6% |
| Third less deprived decile | 15.2% | 14.4% | 16.0% |
| Second least deprived decile | 13.5% | 12.8% | 14.3% |
| Least deprived decile | 11.3% | 10.6% | 12.0% |
Table 7: Proportion of physically inactive adults aged 40 to 60 by ethnicity
| Adults aged 40 to 60 | % Inactive | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| Asian | 29.0% | 27.4% | 30.8% |
| Chinese | 28.9% | 24.7% | 33.7% |
| Black | 27.9% | 25.7% | 30.3% |
| White-Other | 21.4% | 20.2% | 22.7% |
| White-British | 18.2% | 17.9% | 18.5% |
See section 5.8 for an explanation of the 95% confidence intervals used
See section 5.9 for an explanation of the deprivation deciles used
4. Disability and physical inactivity
The proportion of adults aged 40 to 60 in England with a limiting disability or illness who can be classed as physically inactive is 33.4%, compared to 16.7% of able bodied adults (Table 8).
See section 5.11 for a definition of disability
See section 5.6 for a definition of physical inactivity
Table 8: Proportion of adults aged 40-60 who are inactive by limiting disability or illness
| Impairment | % Inactive | 95% Confidence Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Limit | Upper Limit | ||
| No disability or illness | 16.7% | 16.4% | 17.0% |
| Limiting disability or illness (any) | 33.4% | 32.5% | 34.3% |
| Speech | 47.1% | 42.1% | 52.0% |
| Learning | 45.3% | 40.8% | 49.9% |
| Memory | 41.7% | 39.3% | 44.2% |
| Mobility | 41.2% | 40.0% | 42.5% |
| Behavioural | 40.1% | 37.1% | 43.1% |
| Vision | 39.4% | 35.8% | 43.2% |
| Dexterity | 38.8% | 36.6% | 41.1% |
| Hearing | 37.9% | 34.7% | 41.3% |
| Chronic health condition | 37.9% | 36.4% | 39.5% |
| Long term pain | 37.9% | 36.7% | 39.1% |
| Mental health | 36.7% | 35.1% | 38.4% |
| Breathing | 32.8% | 31.0% | 34.7% |
See section 5.8 for an explanation of the 95% confidence intervals used
5. Definitions and terminology
5.1 Active Lives
Active Lives[footnote 1] is a survey designed to measure participation in sport and physical activity in England. The Active Lives survey[footnote 1] was conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Sport England which commissioned the survey with additional funding from Public Health England, Arts Council England and the Department of Transport.
Results presented are a subset of Active Lives data which has previously been published by Sport England.
5.2 Sample
The data presented in this document was collected between 16 November 2015 and 15 November 2016, using either an online or paper self-report questionnaire. The analysis presented is for adults aged 40 to 60 only, resulting in a total sample size of 72,198. Further details on the sampling methodology can be found in the Technical Summary year 1 report.
5.3 Weighting
All analyses in this document have been weighted to be representative of the population of England. Weighting is required to reduce the bias in survey estimates and to make the weighted achieved sample match the population as closely as possible. For Active Lives, the weighting corrects for the disproportionate selection of addresses across local authorities and for the selection of adults and youths within households. The weighting also adjusts the achieved sample by month to control for seasonality. In addition, by weighting to population estimates and national estimates from the Annual Population Survey (2015-16), the weights should also reduce bias in the survey estimates. Further details on the weighting methodology can be found in the Technical Summary year 1 report.
5.4 Reporting physical activity
Active Lives collects data on participation in sport and physical activity by asking:
- which activities (from a list) people had undertaken in the last 12 months
- on how many days they had done each activity in the past 4 weeks
- how long they usually spent on the activity per day
- whether it raised their breathing rate or made them out of breath or sweaty
Respondents can also mention activities which are not listed on the questionnaire. Missing durations are calculated using the median duration for that activity and extreme durations are capped at the 95th centile for that activity.
This table defines the activity categories used in analysis of the Active Lives Survey[footnote 1] data
| Activity category | Definition |
|---|---|
| Moderate intensity physical activity | Any activity where the effort put in is usually enough to raise your breathing rate |
| Vigorous intensity physical activity | Any activity where the effort put in is usually enough to make you sweat or out of breath |
Each moderate intensity minute counts as 1 minute. Any vigorous activity has a double weighting so each vigorous minute counts as 2 moderate intensity minutes in the calculation of average physical activity duration.
5.5 Brisk walking
Brisk walking is defined as walking continuously for at least 10 minutes in the past 4 weeks and the effort usually put into the activity was enough to “raise your breathing rate” or “make you out of breath or sweat” (as reported by the respondent).
Walking data was collected by asking respondents if they had done any walking for travel or walking for leisure (rambling or Nordic walking, mountain or hill walking, hiking) in the last 12 months. Respondents were asked:
- on how many days they had undertaken each walking activity in the past 4 weeks
- how long they usually spent doing the activity per day
- whether it raised their breathing rate or made them out of breath or sweaty
Respondents were advised to include all continuous walks of at least 10 minutes without stopping. If they stopped for short breaks, such as waiting to cross a road this still counted as continuous. Walking around the shops is excluded.
5.6 Physical inactivity
Physical inactivity is defined as participating in less than 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week.
To calculate a weekly amount of moderate intensity physical activity the total minutes of moderate intensity physical activity reported over the previous 4 weeks are divided by 4. This means that any respondent that reports less than 120 minutes of moderate intensity activity in the previous 4 weeks is classified as physically inactive.
5.7 Proportions
Proportions have been calculated by dividing the weighted number of respondents with valid responses (aged 40 to 60) that have not done a brisk walk or are inactive, by the total weighted number of respondents with valid responses (aged 40 to 60) and multiplied by 100.
5.8 Confidence intervals
A confidence interval is a range of values that is used to quantify the precision in the estimate of a particular indicator. Specifically it quantifies the effect of random variation in the measurement of the indicator. A wider confidence interval shows that the indicator value presented is likely to be a less precise estimate of the true underlying value.
The Wilson Score method[footnote 3] gives very accurate approximate confidence intervals for proportions and odds based on the assumption of a binomial distribution. It can be used with any data values, even when the denominator is very small and, unlike some methods, it does not fail to give an interval when the numerator count, and therefore the proportion, is zero. The Wilson Score method is Public Health England’s preferred method for calculating confidence intervals for proportions. The method is described in detail in APHO Technical Briefing 3: Commonly used public health statistics and their confidence intervals[footnote 4].
For the analyses in this document 95% confidence intervals have been calculated using the unweighted numerator and denominator and the resulting confidence intervals have been applied to the weighted proportion.
5.9 Deprivation
Analyses by deprivation are calculated by assigning respondents to the relevant Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) decile using their resident neighbourhood (Lower-layer Super Output Area).
The IMD is based on the Department for Communities and Local Government’s English Indices of Deprivation 2015. The IMD combines information from seven domains (income deprivation, employment deprivation, education, skills and training deprivation, health deprivation and disability, crime, barriers to housing and service, living environment deprivation) to produce an overall relative measure of deprivation.
Deciles are calculated by ranking the 32,844 neighbourhoods in England from most deprived to least deprived and dividing them into 10 equal groups (with each containing 3,284 or 3,285 neighbourhoods). These deciles range from the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally to the least deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally.
5.10 Population estimates
Population estimates have been used to provide an approximated number of people aged 40 to 60 years in England that are physically inactive. The proportion of respondents (persons, men, women) classified as physically inactive have been applied to the relevant total 40 to 60 year old population in England using the ONS mid-year population estimates, mid-2016.
5.11 Disability
Limiting disability or illness is defined as self-reporting of any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses that have lasted or are expected to last 12 months or more, that have a substantial effect on the ability to carry out normal daily activities.
Respondents were asked if they had any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses that had lasted or were expected to last 12 months or more. Those who said yes were asked whether these physical or mental health conditions or illnesses had a substantial effect on their ability to do normal daily activities. Those who answered yes were considered to have a limiting impairment.
All those who reported any conditions or impairments were asked whether the disability or illness affected them in any of 13 ways. These were long term pain, chronic health condition, mobility, dexterity, mental health, vision, breathing, memory, hearing, learning, speech, behavioural and other (see below for further details).
Respondents were asked to tick all that applied, meaning that respondents with more than 1 condition or impairment would be included in the calculations for each of the disability or illness areas reported:
- mobility: conditions affecting the ability to move around, for example muscle weakness, joint problems, or neurological conditions
- learning: reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities
- hearing: partially or wholly lacking hearing, in one or both ears
- vision: includes total blindness and low vision that cannot be corrected with standard glasses or contact lenses
- long term pain:persistent or chronic pain, for example from arthritis
- chronic health conditions: examples include diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, epilepsy and hypertension
- dexterity: impact on fine motor skills or movements, for example maintaining a hold on items
- mental health: includes anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, personality disorders, psychosis and schizophrenia
- breathing: conditions that may result in breathlessness, asthma attacks or fatigue. Examples include bronchitis, fibrosis, pulmonary edema, and asbestosis
- memory: difficulty consistently remembering information which impacts on daily life
- speech: disruption in normal speaking patterns, for example lisps and dyspraxia
- behavioural: behaviour traits that have a negative impact on daily life,social interactions or that make certain tasks more difficult
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https://www.sportengland.org/research/active-lives-survey/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Wilson EB. Probable inference, the law of succession, and statistical inference. J Am Stat Assoc 1927;22:209-12. ↩
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Eayres D. Technical Briefing 3: Commonly used public health statistics and their confidence intervals. York: APHO; 2008. ↩