London losing the fitness race

Large parts of London remain in the grip of couch potato syndrome, government figures revealed today

An official survey shows that mass participation in sport and recreation has fallen by just over one per cent in the past two years.

Some 20.2 per cent of Londoners - 1.2million adults - participated in "moderate intensity" sport or recreation three times a week compared with the national average of 21.3 per cent.

The findings underline the challenge to ministers of hitting the target of getting two million more people in England to adopt active lifestyles by 2013 as a legacy of the London Olympics.

Data from the Active People survey published by Sport England showed low levels of activity in the eastern boroughs. Four out of five host Olympic boroughs - Newham, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich and Waltham Forest - have "low" participation with fewer than one in five adults engaged in benchmark levels of activity. Of the Olympic boroughs only Hackney was above this.

Activity levels dropped in five boroughs - Croydon, Enfield, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames and Harrow, which has become the home of the couch potato in London with only 13.3per cent activity levels. None of the 33 local authorities recorded a significant increase but Kensington and Chelsea was the most active in London in a cluster of boroughs in the south-west of the capital which boast participation levels above the national average.

The survey of 191,000 adults in England was carried out in the past 12 months by Ipsos Mori.

Under reforms by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Sport England, the grassroots and community sports quango, will be responsible for getting one million more people in England active while the other million will largely be the responsibility of the Department of Health. Last week Sport England made £480million worth of grants over four years to grassroots projects in 46 sports.

The survey echoes the results of an Evening Standard poll this year which showed dissatisfaction with sports provision. About 62 per cent said they were satisfied compared with the 67 per cent national average.

Grants made last week to grassroots judo, basketball and rugby are expected to deliver benefits in London.