ADULTS in Ipswich are among the least active in the country, figures have revealed today.

ADULTS in Ipswich are among the least active in the country, figures have revealed today.

Just one in six adults in the town takes part in the recommended levels of sporting activity, and more than half do none at all - leaving it in the bottom 15 of the 354 districts in England.

The shockingly low participation rate is despite Ipswich coming out sixth in England for satisfaction levels with the sports facilities offered.

The new figures, from a study from Sport England, paint a grim picture of sporting participation throughout the country, with 50.6per cent of people admitting to taking part in absolutely no sporting activity. In Ipswich it was 53.8pc.

The news comes just days after the health profile for the east of England was published showing more than a fifth of adults in Suffolk are obese.

Steve Kemp, Ipswich Borough Council's head of sport, said: “It's worrying because potentially all these people not doing exercise will require medical support and will put more pressure on the health service whereas if they are much more active it would reduce that considerably.

“We are trying to get people as fit and active as possible.”

Mr Kemp suggested one of the reasons people were not taking part in the recommended level of sporting activity, three 30-minute sessions a week as week as two other 30-minute sessions of activity such as gardening, was because of time constraints.

Adam Baker, the council's Team Ipswich manager, said: “It would suggest we need to get people exercising more regularly.

“We can see it - children are a lot more obese then they used to be. It's a message for the whole nation.”

Mr Baker said there was a lot of hope for the future of sport in Ipswich and he hoped new council-backed initiatives such as funding workplace fitness would help buck the trend and get people enthusiastic about sport.

He added: “Ipswich is seen as a sporting town, we have some fantastic teams, clubs and individuals not only at elite level but at local and volunteer level.”

> What would get you to do more exercise? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Percentage of people completing at least 30 minutes of exercise three days a week

National - 21pc

Eastern region - 20.5pc

Suffolk - 19.8pc

Babergh - 28pc

Mid Suffolk 19.5pc

Suffolk Coastal - 21.6pc

Ipswich - 16.6pc

SOURCE: Suffolk Sport