Activity data in the report
The data were collected by asking which activities from a list people had done in the last 12 months, on how many days they had done each activity in the last 28 days, how long they usually spent doing the activity per day and whether it raised their breathing rate or made them out of breath or sweaty.
Moderate activity
This is defined as activity where you raise your heart rate and feel a little out of breath.
Vigorous activity
This is where you are breathing hard and fast and your heart rate has increased significantly (you will not be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath).
People could also mention activities which were not listed on the questionnaire and these were coded to the relevant activity. These data then fed into the measures presented in the analysis (Levels of activity and taking part).
The data have been cleaned such that duplicated fitness activities within a single questionnaire have been removed, missing durations have been imputed using the median duration for that activity and extreme durations have been capped at the 95th percentile for that activity.
The questionnaire was set up such that people selected the activities they did. Any activity which was not selected was assumed not to have been done.
Activity
- Increase in the percentage of people physically active.
- Decrease in the percentage of people physically inactive.
- Increase in the percentage of people who have undertaken muscle strengthening exercise at least twice a week in the last month.
The Chief Medical Officer defines an active person as someone who, over the course of a week, does 150 or more moderate intensity equivalent (MIE) minutes of physical activity. Breaking that down further:
Moderate intensity equivalent (MIE) minutes means each ‘moderate’ minute counts as one minute. Any vigorous activity counts for double, so each vigorous minute counts as two moderate minutes.
The 150 MIE minutes can be achieved in one go or in chunks of at least 10 minutes across different days through a combination of physical activities.
Associated measures are ‘fairly active’ which refers to 30-149 minutes by the same definition and ‘inactive’ which refers to less than 30 minutes.
The sporting future guidelines refer to all sports, fitness, cycling, walking, dance and gardening activity. Gardening does not however fall under Sport England's remit and so, unless referenced otherwise, this is excluded from the data presented.
Activity is considered to be muscle strengthening if it required sufficient effort to ‘make your muscles feel some tension, shake or feel warm’.
Taking part in sport and physical activity
- Increase in percentage of the population taking part in sport and physical activity at least twice in the last month.
This is measured as the equivalent of 30 minutes or more activity at least twice in the last 28 days. Each session must last at least 10 minutes and be of at least moderate intensity.
An individual can reach the minimum threshold by a combination of two 30-minutes sessions across the last 28 days or by six 10-minute sessions, for example. This is measured for all activities including sports, fitness, dance, cycling and walking (including for travel).
In the analysis, specific activities have been grouped together into composites to look at groups of sports or disciplines. When creating composites across activities anyone who did not tick any of the relevant activities which feed into the composite were treated as not having done that composite activity. Therefore, there are no missing values for these composites.
In some cases, intensity was assumed and not asked (assumed always to be light, moderate or vigorous). Activities done by those aged 65 and over were assumed to be at least moderate in all cases and therefore counted in the taking part measure. Results are also presented for smaller groups of specific activities.
The table below shows the specific activities which are included under each of the composite activity groupings used in the report. Where relevant, the wording or description given in the questionnaire is also included for reference.
Definitions of composite activities within the Active Lives survey
| Composite |
Activities included |
| Walking for leisure |
Walking for leisure (including dog walking, rambling, and Nordic walking). Walking around shops is excluded. |
| Walking for travel |
Walking around shops is excluded. |
| Cycling for leisure and sport |
Cycling for leisure, mountain biking, BMX, road cycling or racing, track cycling, cyclo-cross and all other cycling, exercise bike, cycle class (e.g. spinning, RPM). |
| Cycling for travel |
Cycling for travel (including commuting). |
| Creative or artistic dance |
Creative or artistic dance. For example, ballet, ballroom, belly dancing, contemporary, contact improvisation, Flamenco, folk, hip-hop, historical/period, Irish, jazz, jive, Latin American, line or square dancing, salsa, street dance, South Asian, tango or tap. |
| Fitness activities |
Combining several activities in a gym.
Fitness machines such as cross-training machine (e.g. cross-trainer, SkiErg), exercise bike, rowing machine, step machine, treadmill, other exercise machine.
Fitness class such as Pilates, Yoga, Boxing class (e.g. Boxercise, body combat), Cardio class (e.g. aerobics, step aerobics, body attack), Core strength class (e.g. legs bums and tums, body balance), Cycle class (e.g. spinning, RPM), Dance-based class (e.g. Zumba, fitsteps, ravercise or body jam), Water-based class (e.g. aquaerobics, aquafit), Weights-based class (e.g. body pump, kettlebell), Other fitness or exercise class.
Weights session such as Resistance weights machines, Free weights (includes kettlebells and dumb-bells), Weightlifting or powerlifting (using a barbell).
Interval sessions, such as Circuit training, Cross training, Bootcamp (e.g. drill sergeant, military fitness), Cross fit, High intensity (e.g. HIT, insanity).
Generic fitness session, covering things such as Body weight exercises (e.g. pull ups, press ups, sit ups), Skipping, Aerial fitness, Hula hooping.
|
| Sporting activities |
Team Sports: Football, Cricket, Rugby union, Rugby league, Touch rugby, Wheelchair rugby, Netball, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Field hockey, Volleyball, Rounders, Dodgeball, Baseball or softball, Lacrosse, Goalball, Handball, Gaelic sports, Other team sport.
Racket Sports: Tennis, Badminton, Squash or Racketball, Table Tennis.
Adventure sports: Hill or mountain walking or hiking, Rock climbing or bouldering, Climbing or bouldering wall, Caving or pot holing, Abseiling, Orienteering, Parkour or free running, High ropes.
Water sports: Rowing, Sailing, Windsurfing, Gliding, paragliding or hang gliding, Canoeing or kayaking, Rafting, Water skiing or wakeboarding, Surfing, board surfing, body boarding, kite surfing, paddle boarding, Scuba diving or snorkelling, Life-saving, Other water sports such as dragon boat racing.
Leisure games and activities: Angling or fishing, Archery, Fencing, Ice skating, Frisbee or ultimate Frisbee, Rounders, Garden trampolining, Ten-pin bowling, Croquet, Cue based sports (e.g. billiards, snooker and pool), Darts, Skittles, Other leisure activity or game.
Combat sports, Martial Arts or Target Sports: Archery, Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Taekwondo, Martial arts, Shooting, Wrestling, Tai Chi
Winter sports: Skiing, Snowboarding, Sledding, luge, tobogganing, Ice hockey, Curling, Ice skating, Other winter sports.
Swimming, diving or water polo: Swimming indoors and outdoors, Diving, Water polo.
Running, athletics or multi-sports: Track and field athletics, Running or jogging, Fell or trail running, Triathlon (includes aquathlon and duathlon), Modern Pentathlon, Obstacle course (e.g. Tough mudder, Spartan, Rat Race).
Golf.
Horse riding.
Bowls or Boules.
Gymnastics, trampolining or cheerleading.
Roller or skating sports: Roller-skating, inline skating, rollerblading, Roller hockey, Skateboarding, Ice skating.
Motorsports: Karting or go-karting, Motorcycle racing,
Motorcar racing.
|
The report presents certain activities from within the sporting activities group. This table shows what they include.
Definitions of sporting disciplines within the Active Lives survey
| Sporting Activity: Composite |
Activities |
| Badminton |
Badminton |
| Basketball |
Basketball (does not include Wheelchair basketball) |
| Bowls |
Bowls including carpet bowls, crown green bowls, flat green bowls, short mat bowls |
| Boxing |
Boxing and boxing fitness |
| Climbing or mountaineering |
Includes hillwalking, hiking, rock climbing and bouldering (including on climbing walls) |
| Cricket |
Long and short form cricket and nets and practice and other cricket |
| Equestrian |
Hacking or pony trekking, Schooling, Show jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Other horse riding |
| Football |
11 a-side, small sided, futsal, walking football and other football |
| Golf |
Full course golf, Short course golf, par 3, pitch and putt, putting, Driving range, Adventure or crazy golf |
| Gymnastics |
Gymnastics and trampolining (excluding garden trampolining) |
| Netball |
Netball |
| Rowing |
Water based rowing and rowing machine |
| Rugby union |
15 a-side, Rugby Sevens, touch and tag rugby |
| Running |
Running or jogging and treadmill |
| Snowsport |
Skiing and snowboarding |
| Squash |
Squash and racketball |
| Swimming |
Swimming (indoors, outdoor pool and open water) |
| Table tennis |
Table tennis |
| Tennis |
Tennis |
| Track and field athletics |
Track and field athletics |
Volunteering
This is measured as having volunteered in sport and physical activity in the last 12 months. It is reported by four key frequencies from once/ one off to once a week throughout the year.
Respondents were asked a series of questions about different types of volunteering in sport and physical activity. These questions were updated from November 2019 to provide more detailed data on the frequency, duration and longevity of volunteering activity.
Please see the Technical Note for the November 2019-2020 release for more detail on the updated volunteering questions.
Sports spectating
- Number of people who have attended a live sporting event more than once in the past year.
This is measured as having watched two or more live sports events, whether professional or amateur, over the previous 12 months.
The question was asked as part of a list of different activities. They were asked:
- Have you done this activity (attended a live sports event) in the past 12 months?
- If you have done this activity in the past 12 months how many times have you done it? Additional information provided was: Include all matches and competitions, including professional sport as well as watching family and friends compete.
- Answers of ‘twice’ or ‘three or more’ were included in this measure. There were some missing data from the postal questionnaire, if people did not answer this question. These people are excluded from the base.
Outcomes
Respondents were asked a series of questions about their overall wellbeing. These are presented as mean scores out of ten. These included the ONS wellbeing metrics:
- Life satisfaction: “How satisfied are you with life nowadays?"
- Happiness: "How happy did you feel yesterday?"
- Worthwhile: "To what extent are the things you do in your life worthwhile"
- Anxiety: "How anxious did you feel yesterday?"
Additional questions were included to ascertain respondent’s individual resilience and their perceptions of community cohesion:
- Goals: "I can achieve most of the goals I set myself"
- Resilience: "If I find something difficult, I keep trying until I can do it"
- Community trust: "Most people in your local area can be trusted"
- Community integration: "Your local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together"
Loneliness
This is measured as the proportion who feel lonely often or always.
Attitudes
Respondents were asked a series of questions to understand the place sport and exercise has in their lives, and their sense that they are both ready and have the opportunity to be physically active.
For each statement, respondents were asked the extent to which they agree or disagree that:
- They find sport/exercise enjoyable and satisfying;
- It's important to them to do sport/exercise regularly;
- They feel they have the opportunity to be physically active; and,
- They feel they have the ability to be physically active.
Key demographics variables
Age and gender
The report contains breakdowns by age and gender. The gender question used in the Active Lives survey asks people to describe how they think of themselves, and allows them to provide the answer ‘in another way’.
Number of long-term limiting impairments
The questionnaire asked whether people had any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses that have lasted or are expected to last 12 months or more.
Those who said yes were asked whether these physical or mental health conditions or illnesses have a substantial effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.
All those who reported any conditions or impairments were asked whether the disability or illness affected them in any of 13 ways (including other). These were long term pain, chronic health condition, mobility, dexterity, mental health, visual, breathing, memory, hearing, learning, speech, behavioural, other (more detailed descriptions were provided on the questionnaire).
Those who answered yes to the impairment having a substantial effect were considered to have a limiting impairment. The number of limiting impairments was derived from the question which asked about types of impairment.
It should be noted that this is the number of impairments from a set list reported by people who said that any of their conditions or illnesses have a substantial effect.
Those in the no limiting impairments category are those who reported no conditions or illnesses and those who reported that any conditions they have do not have a substantial effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.
Social Status
The measure used is a National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) measure derived using the self-coded method2. This assigns people aged 16-74 to a classification using information collected about employment status (self-employed or employed), the size of organisation and supervisory roles.
People are then asked to place themselves in one of eight occupational groups. From this, a five class NS-SEC measure can be derived. Testing of this method by ONS showed a 75% agreement with the interviewer coded method.
More details about this method can be obtained from ONS, since the standard self-coded method was used.
Current education stage
Those who reported that they were in full or part time education when asked about their working status were asked about where they are studying.
In addition, those who did not report being in full or part time education were asked whether they were studying for a recognised qualification. Those who were studying for a recognised qualification were asked where they were studying.
2 Section 14 in the ONS Socio-economic classification guidance.
