Nearly half of Scottish adults now do less exercise

Scotland is the only nation in the UK where a larger proportion of adults admit they are less physically active than they were five years ago.

The insight comes from a survey published by physical activity body, ukactive, which shows that 44% of Scottish adults say they are moving less than they were five years ago in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conducted by Savanta, the research also found that just 21% of Scots think they are moving more than they did five years ago. The data shows that of the other nations, 32% of English adults think they are moving less than they were five years ago, and the figure was the same for those from Northern Ireland (32%). In Wales, this was only slightly higher, with 34% saying that they are moving less than five years ago.

A Scottish Health Survey in 2019 showed that two thirds (66%) of Scottish adults met the Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) recommendation of at least 150 minutes (two-and-a-half hours) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a week.

In 2022, the figure dropped to 65% and for those that failed to meet the recommendation, the main reasons given were that their health was not good enough (41%), it was difficult to find time (22%) and not being interested (20%).

ukactive is now calling on the incoming government to urgently address physical inactivity in Scotland.

It wants the next government to support the sector in building a “long-term vision for facilities” to support as many people as possible in accessing spaces to keep active.