Charity is encouraging us all to get more active

And more than a quarter (25.6 per cent) are not even active for 30 minutes a week.

The findings from the Sport England (Department for Culture Media & Sport) report found that 39.3 per cent of adults aren’t getting the minimum recommended 150 minutes of activity a week needed to stay healthy.

This is made up of 25.6 per cent of people who aren’t active for 30 minutes a week or more and a further 13.7 per cent who are only active for between 30 and 149 minutes a week.

Of those who were active for at least 150 minutes per week (60.7 per cent), more than a third of them achieved it entirely through walking for leisure.

Living Streets, the UK charity for everyway walking, is encouraging more people to swap four wheels for two feet for short journeys to help achieve their 150 minutes, stay healthy and reduce the risk of preventable illness.

Tim Fitches, impact and evaluation manager at Living Streets said: “The findings show that walking plays a large part in the lives of people who are active.

“They also show that walking stands to offer a lot to people who want to try and fit more activity into their lives in an easy and achievable way.

“By making small changes to our daily routines – skipping a stop on public transport, walking to the local shops or parking further away – we can reduce the risk of significant health issues including heart disease, cancer, depression and Type 2 diabetes as well as getting fitter and happier in the process.”

Living Streets has been established for more than 85 years and aims to create a walking nation, free from congested roads and pollution, reducing the risk of preventable illness and social isolation and making walking the natural choice.

The charity’s ambition is to get people of all generations to enjoy the benefits that this simple act brings and to ensure all our streets are fit for walking.

In its early days, Living Streets’ campaigning led to the UK’s first zebra crossings and speed limits.

Now, their campaigns and local projects deliver real change to overcome barriers to walking and our ground-breaking initiatives such as the world’s biggest Walk to School campaign encourage millions of people to walk.

For more information visit www.livingstreets.org.uk or follow them on Twitter at @livingstreets