One in five people in Britain say they don’t feel fit enough to play sport or exercise with other people, according to new research conducted by Mintel.

The findings show a reluctance from 22 per cent of people to engage with fitness and sport because of a fear of exposing their low levels of fitness.

The research has also discovered that a quarter of Brits say they find it hard to motivate themselves to play sport or get more exercise.

However, data also suggests reasons for optimism in the fact that more a third of those surveyed say they would like to be more active to improve their health, with this figure rising to over 50 per cent among those who say they don’t feel fit enough to exercise with other people.

Mintel also found that 36 per cent of consumers have not played or participated in sport in the past 12 months, rising to more than a half of those aged over 55.

“Not feeling fit enough to play with others could be one expression of a more general lack of physical confidence that stems from unfamiliarity with sport more widely – it is significant that this attitude is most common among older people, who are least likely to take part in sport either individually or with others,” said David Walmsley, senior leisure analyst at Mintel.

The research comes on the back of another study conducted by ukactive, which has shown that the majority of UK adults spend five times longer in front of a TV, tablet, PC or mobile screen than they do exercising in a normal week.

Although the research may suggest low levels of activity participation, findings earlier this summer showed that in fact sports participation is up on last year, with an estimated 15.6 million of over 16s now playing sport at least once a week.