Although anyone can be inactive, there are some groups who are traditionally less likely to take part in activity including:
- Women and girls
- People from lower socio-economic groups
- Older people
- Disabled people or those with long term health conditions
- People from particular ethnic groups
| Group | Inactive: less than 30 minutes a week | Bexley Population (2015 ONS) | ||
| Bexley | London | England | ||
| Women & Girls | 29.5% | 25.3% | 26.7% | 124,292 (51.8%) |
| NS SEC 6-8 | n/a* | 33.5% | 34.9% | 44,450 (26.8%) |
| Older People:
65-74 75+ |
38.1% 54.5% |
29.8% 52.2% |
30.4% 52.6% |
20,310 (8.4%) 19,778 (8.2%) |
| Disabled or limiting illness | 46.3% | 41.5% | 43.3% | 37,053 (16%) |
| BME:
South Asian Black Chinese Other |
n/a* |
31.0% 29.5% 27.7% 28.0% |
30.9% 29.6% 30.2% 29.9% |
8,554 (4%) 19,624 (8%) 2,514 (1%) 11,343 (5%) |
| SOURCE: Active Lives Survey. Data period: November 2016 – November 2017 & 2015 ONS Mid-year population estimates 2015
* some local data is not available yet, due to small sample sizes |
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NB: People can fall into more than one high risk group.
In Bexley, as well as large populations within these traditionally inactive groups there are also likely to be health inequalities and low levels of physical activity in people with a learning disabilities (Health Inequalities & People with Learning Disabilities in the UK: 2010, Eric Emerson and Susannah Baines) and children and young people. There is also a growing group of people with mental health and wellbeing issues that would benefit from being more physically active.
Unhealthy Behaviours
Being inactive is just one of the behaviours affecting people’s health. Inactive people; particularly in lower socio-economic groups are also more likely to smoke and have poor diet, leading to excess weight and also excess alcohol consumption. Such issues can reinforce one another, so inactivity may need to be tackled in parallel with these habits, through preventative programmes and embedding physical activity in treatment pathways.
In addition habits can often passed on within families and social groups, so a wider whole system approach may be needed with some inactive groups.