The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Monday December 11 2006
We confused Britain and England in the headline of this article, which reported the results of a survey covering England only, carried out by Sport England.
The English may be obsessed with sport - but for half of the population that does not go beyond picking up the remote control. A study of nearly 364,000 people in every corner of the country, commissioned by Sport England, reveals half of the population are doing no exercise at all.
The survey reveals just one in five adults hit the recommended target of 30 minutes of exercise three times a week. But more have good intentions. One in four adults - 10.2 million people - belong to a health or sports club, compared with one in six in 2002. Those most likely to exercise three times a week are young wealthy white men living in the south-east of England.
Pilates
More people now do pilates than play rugby union, while walking, swimming and the gym are the most popular forms of exercise. Participation in yoga, bowling and basketball is increasing while the more sedentary activity of fishing ranks 18th after weight training, horseriding and badminton.
The results reveal a broad north-south divide, with more sporting exercise in the south, particularly the south-east. The West Midlands is the least energetic area.
According to the survey, the thinly-populated Isles of Scilly is the most active area, with one in three people there exercising three times a week. Macclesfield and St Albans are also in the top 10.
But the journey of the Olympic torch in 2012 will end among some of the laziest and least sporting communities in the country, according to the biggest ever survey of the nation's sporting habits. The folk of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest - hosts to the London Olympics - are among those least likely to leave their couches to take some form of recreational exercise.
More men take part in sports than women - 23.7% compared with 18.5%. One in four people from the highest socio-economic groups exercise regularly, compared with one in six from the poorest groups. Exercising habits decline rapidly with age: 33% of 16-24-year-olds regularly exercise compared with 16% of 55-64-year-olds.
The results will put pressure on local authorities to improve sporting provision - swimming pools, sports grounds and gyms - in areas where participation is at its lowest. Researchers found that these were generally the areas with the worst facilities. The sport minister, Richard Caborn, said the levels of sport participation revealed in the survey were "disappointing. In the last decade we have invested a record £3bn of public money into providing new state of the art facilities across England that are both accessible and affordable.
"But the government can only do so much. Individuals must start to take responsibility for their health and fitness too. We cannot force people to switch the TV off, get up from the sofa and do sport. The public has to get motivated if participation in sport is going to rise."
Sport England will use the data to decide which areas need more facilities, and is urging local authorities to take stock of their own results and invest in facilities ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
Derek Mapp, chair of Sport England, said: "The power of sport is immense, not just improving the health of the nation and helping to build communities, but because it is fun and makes us feel better both physically and mentally. We need to use these results to ensure that we reach out to more of those currently missing out on sport and its benefits."
If the survey included children participation rates would be higher, he added, suggesting that people needed to be encouraged to continue taking part in sport after leaving school.
Neville Rigby, director of policy and public affairs at the International Obesity Taskforce, said: "The evidence shows that it's very difficult to sustain longer term regular exercise. A lot of people with weight problems are put off by the gym culture and the competition in sports. We need to encourage general activity - walking and climbing stairs - to improve people's physical fitness."
Women
Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Women's Sports Foundation, said the results were shocking. "Media coverage dedicated to women's sport is almost non-existent. Until these issues are addressed, and the perception that doing sport and exercise is a 'male' pursuit is altered, then we are concerned that the number of women taking part will remain at these worrying levels."
Ipsos Mori surveyed an average of 1,000 people in every local authority area aged 16 and above in England for Sport England. They asked about the regular sports and exercise taken in the previous four weeks, excluding that taken as part of a person's job.
