Most children are not getting the daily exercise recommended by the NHS and the promised Olympic legacy of a healthier, happier and more active nation has failed to materialise, according to figures from the Health Survey for England.
The 2012 survey of 8,000 adults and 2,000 children found that only 16% of girls aged five to 15 get the recommended hour of exercise a day, despite a nationwide push to get more playing sports. Only 21% of boys get the required exercise compared with 28% in 2008, falling to 14% for 13- to 15-year-olds.
Only 9% of boys and 10% of girls aged between two and four meet the requirement of three hours activity a day.
In 2012, 67% of men and 55% of women over 16 met recommended guidelines of at least two and a half hours a week of moderately intensive exercise. The researchers say in the report: "One of the planned legacies from the London 2012 Games was an increase in sports and exercise participation, including active travel (walking and cycling), by the general public across the country." But the report concludes: "The proportion meeting the recommendation was similar in 2008 and 2012, with no Olympic legacy yet apparent."
Inactivity among the UK population is estimated to cost the NHS £8.2bn in direct and indirect costs. The survey suggests many overweight people are not aware that they had a problem.
About 24% of men and 25% of women were obese, while 67% of men and 57% of women in England were either overweight or obese. More than a quarter of overweight men and a third of overweight women described themselves as a healthy size. Childhood and adolescent obesity was linked "directly to middle-age mortality and morbidity", according to the survey yet child obesity rates remain high.
Fourteen percent of boys and girls aged two-15 are classed as obese, and 28% as either overweight or obese. Nineteen per cent of boys and 17% of girls in the lowest income bracket were deemed to be obese compared with 8% and 7% respectively from the richest households.
The survey also noted that "most adults in Britain drink alcohol, at least occasionally, and alcohol has an established place in British social life". It found that 67% of men and 53% of women drank in the previous week, with 18% of men and 10% of women drinking on five or more days a week. In richer households, 81% of men and 69% of women had a drink in the last week compared with 51% and 39% in the lowest earning.
Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said alcohol abuse cost the NHS £3.5 bn a year. "These statistics show that there are still far too many of us drinking too much too often putting us at risk of serious health problems, like cancer and stroke.
"We're facing historically high levels of health harms caused by alcohol misuse, with over a million alcohol related hospital admissions each year; and we're one of the few European countries where liver disease is on the increase. If we're to turn this health crisis around we have to take action on alcohol sold at pocket money prices, its constant availability and get tough on alcohol advertising."
