A “pandemic” of inactivity in poor areas of England is leading to premature deaths, a report has warned.
Thirteen of the top 15 localities where people are the most inactive also sit in some of the most deprived parts of the country, said experts from the not-for-profit health group, Ukactive.
Where inactivity levels are at their highest, early deaths also peak, their study found.
In the 15 most inactive local authorities, there is an average of 342 premature deaths per 100,000 people per year, compared with 242 in those where people exercise the most.
Councils, who took over responsibility for promoting exercise from the NHS last year, spent two per cent of their annual public health budgets on programmes to boost activity last year, the report went on.
Some five per cent have not allocated any cash to such programmes for 2013/2014.
This is despite the fact 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 one per 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 Royal Institute of British Architects, which found a lack of green space meant people were more likely to suffer ill health and walk less.
Overall, this research said one in three people in the most deprived parts of England fail to raise their heartbeat for 30 minutes a month, even in separate 10-minute bursts.
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.”