Strategic advisor, Andy Reed, founder of SajeImpact, has called for a fresh approach to physical activity strategy.

“Around 80 per cent of variation in health outcomes is attributed to wider factors such as housing, job opportunities and the built environment,” he says. “This means our focus needs to expand beyond traditional sport and leisure offerings to truly embed movement into the fabric of life."

With the reasons for inactivity being multi-factorial, Reed says there needs to be a radically new approach that extends beyond the fitness and physical activity sectors, working with adjacent industries and playing a part in things such as designing active environments.

"Our current sports and physical activity providers can carry on looking after those already in the system and active. But let’s not pretend anymore we can just fit the inactive into our ecosystem with a few tweaks. It's time for a radical overhaul of how and where we try to get people moving.

“It’s not about doing more; it’s about doing what truly matters to embed physical activity into the everyday for every single person. This isn’t just shouting louder about our current offering and hoping more will come or hoping we can get the system to pay us to do more," he says. "It means making movement integral to daily life, so the sector needs to adapt new approaches and work more collaboratively and strategically.

Reed’s suggested approach involves a place-based approach and a move towards proportionate universalism, where support is tailored to need and the least active are prioritised to tackle inequalities.

Environments which promote active travel and remove barriers to being active are pivotal, so our sector should be engaging with planners and other partners to shape homes, streets, green spaces and workplaces to promote walking, cycling and other forms of physical activity: “Making active environments and active travel the norm will have far greater impact than more projects and programmes,” says Reed.

"We need a unified system, with health, social care, education, the voluntary and private sectors collaborating to break down silos, foster mutual understanding and build relationships."