INFORMATION RESOURCES ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
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Sources of data
Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England, 2010
This statistical report presents a range of information on obesity, physical activity and diet, drawn together from a variety of sources.
The topics covered include:
- Overweight and obesity prevalence among adults and children;
- Physical activity levels among adults and children;
- Trends in purchases and consumption of food and drink and energy intake; and
- Health outcomes of being overweight or obese.
Sport England’s Active People Survey (2006)
The Active People Survey is the largest ever survey of sport and active recreation to be undertaken in Europe. It is a telephone survey of 363,724 adults in England (aged 16 plus) providing statistics on participation in sport and active recreation for all 354 Local Authorities in England (a minimum of 1,000 interviews were completed in every Local Authority in England). The Active People Survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Sport England, started in October 2005 and was completed in October 2006.
The survey provides by far the largest sample size ever established for a sport and recreation survey and allows levels of detailed analysis previously unavailable. It identifies how participation varies from place to place and between different groups in the population. The survey also measures; the proportion of the adult population that volunteer in sport on a weekly basis, club membership, involvement in organised sport/competition, receipt of tuition or coaching, and overall satisfaction with levels of sporting provision in the local community. The questionnaire was designed to enable analysis of the findings by a broad range of demographic information, such as gender, social class, ethnicity, household structure, age and disability.
Currently headline results are available as of December 2006.
Health Survey for England
The Health Survey for England (HSE) comprises a series of annual surveys beginning in 1991. The series is part of an overall programme of surveys commissioned by the DH and designed to provide regular information on various aspects of the nation's health. Each year the Health Survey for England focuses on a different demographic group or disease condition, the associated risk factors and health indicators. Physical activity is an example of a special topic and recent trends are shown in Table 17 of the 2005 updated trend tables. These show the proportion of the population achieving the physical activity recommendations between 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2004. By current definitions this consists of undertaking a minimum of 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity activity at least five times a week.
Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England (2009)
In addition to the HSE, the Information Centre has for the first time released a new statistical bulletin which presents a range of information on obesity, physical activity and diet, drawn together from a variety of sources. The bulletin also summarises government plans and targets in this area, as well as providing sources of further information and links to relevant documents. The physical activity sections contain statistical information for both adult and child populations. It looks at levels of physical activity according to physical activity guidelines and relationships between participation in physical activity and factors such as ethnicity, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).
Taking Part: The National Survey of Culture, Leisure and Sport, Active Sports Workbook (2006)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has responsibility for the Government’s aim of improving quality of life, and hence needs to know what helps or hinders people taking part in sport, cultural activities and the arts. The DCMS, working in partnership with our Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) partners, commissioned the "Taking part" survey with the aim of producing quality-assured data on participation, attendance, attitudes and related factors across its sectors, particularly to inform policy and planning. The Active Sports Workbook provides information on why people do or do not participate in sporting activities and levels of participation by different population subgroups.
The School Sports Survey
The School Sports Survey was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills to collect responses from partnership schools to 10 key questions related to the national school sport strategy. The survey achieved a response rate of 99% - 16,882 schools within the existing school partnerships - making it the largest school survey of physical education and school sport in Europe. The survey includes questions on participation levels, sports provision and physical education curriculum time. A similar survey was conducted in 2003/04 and the current survey is a repeat of the 2004/05 version.
The General Household Survey
The General Household Survey (GHS) is a multi purpose continuous survey carried out by the Social Survey Division of the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The survey started in 1971 and has been carried out annually since then, except for breaks in 1997/98 (when the survey was reviewed) and 1999/00 when the survey was re-developed. The survey information is commissioned by various government departments and used for planning, policy and monitoring purposes.
The 1997 review of the GHS concluded that the survey should be re-launched from April 2000 with a different design. The survey was suspended during 1999 to carry out development work for the new survey. From April 2000, the survey consists of two elements: the Continuous Survey and trailers. In the 2002 survey sports participation was included as a trailer.
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PAGE CREATED: 1 April 2007 | PAGE REVISED: 17 February 2010