Half Of Hounslow Borough Residents Play No Sport

Survey shows it is one of the worst boroughs for inactivity

Over half the population of Hounslow borough do not participate in any sport, a survey has revealed.

A sports blog post (Golf Support.com ) highlighted a survey on sporting inactivity across all boroughs and found that Hounslow was the eleventh worst out of 33 boroughs with a total of 54.2% of residents not taking part in sporting activity.

Barking & Dagenham showed the highest level of sporting inactivity at 67%, while Richmond upon Thames and Camdem came out best for participation in sports with scores of nearly 42% and 36% not taking part in sports.

The survey states; "Interestingly, the London borough which primarily hosted the London 2012 Olympics, featured in the top five boroughs with the highest proportion of their respective populations not participating in any sports. It seems the legacy of the Olympics has not fuelled 59.3% of Newham’s population to try something new that will positively impact their physical health."

An estimated 8.3 million men and 11.8 million women across the UK are categorised as ‘insufficiently active’ according to the British Heart Foundation.

A lack of physical activity can significantly increase the risk of many adverse health conditions. With the consequences ranging from high blood pressure to heart disease, statistics show that regular physical activity can beneficially reduce the risk of early death by up to 30%.

Similarly, with the yearly financial burden of physical inactivity an astronomical £1.2 billion on healthcare services, ‘Sport England’ believe continual sport participation can save between £1,750 – £6,900 per person in healthcare costs.

Image: LBH website

To gain an insight into why more Londoners are not actively engaging and participating in sports, GolfSupport.com also conducted its own survey. It found that ‘pre-occupied/busy with work’ was the most cited reason as to why Londoners are not playing sports at 32%. Other reasons ranked as following: ‘too tired’ – 24%, ‘have non-work-related commitments’ – 18%, ‘think sport clubs/venues/equipment is too expensive’ – 12%, ‘lack motivation’ – 8% and ‘don’t have a desire/want to play sports’ – 6%.

Hounslow Council has several Leisure Centres and Sports Clubs to keep local people of all ages active. You can find details on their Get Active pages

October 27, 2017