Andy Burnham has said that there needs to be a sea-change in how Britons approach physical activity. After research showed the UK was one of the least active countries in Europe, the health minister said that Brits needed to face up to the challenge of doing more exercise.
We were 21st out of 31, falling behind countries like Bulgaria and Latria in the chart showing how regularly populations engaged in regular exercise. The recommended amount of exercise we should be doing is 1 hour a day for children, and 30 minutes daily for adults.
However, a survey performed for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy showed that two-thirds of UK residents were not managing to meet this target, with 1/5th saying they exercised once a month or less.
Mr Burnham said that while as a nation we love sport, we are just not doing enough of it. He added that while we had already set coming fourth in the 2012 Olympics as a goal, he wanted us to get to number 4 in the league of physical activity in the next 10 years.
His comments come as the government launched a number of initiatives to get Britain healthier as part of their Change4Life program. These included the rather dubious announcement that Arlene Phillips, the judge sacked by the BBC for apparently being too old to present Strictly Come Dancing, was to join the Dance Champions Group.
A £1m cash injection into swimming has also been set aside to help councils provide free swims.
He also said that people on sickness benefit should be exercising, as this could lead to significant benefits for the economy. Each minute, £3000 is spent on treating Type 2 diabetes, a condition frequently caused by obesity.