Wales Activity Tracker Survey 6 – August 2022

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Wales Activity Tracker
Wales Activity Tracker Survey 6 – August 2022

Savanta interviewed 1,025 respondents aged 16+ online between 19th August and 22nd August 2022. Savanta is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. All participants were from Wales and data has been weighted to be representative of the Welsh population by age, gender, region and socio-economic status.

Key Findings

• Two in five people did physical activity on 2-4 days in the week leading up to the survey period, an increase on Wave 5 and in line with Wave 4 (Aug 21), whilst the proportion who did no exercise has decreased since Wave 5 (Feb 22) but is again in line with Wave 4 (Aug 21). The number of people doing physical activity on 5+ days is lower today than it was in Wave 4 (Aug 21).

• The most popular activity remains walking, which has seen a boost in popularity from the previous wave (Wave 5 – Feb 22) most likely due to seasonality. A higher proportion of respondents are also doing this activity with someone else when compared to Wave 5 (Feb 22).

• Attitudes towards sport and physical activity have shown a concerning dip when compared to the same time last year (Wave 4 - Aug 21), with fewer people agreeing that they have the opportunity or ability to be active, or that they enjoy the activities themselves. Those in social grade CD2E consistently demonstrate this trend compared to ABC1, showing there is potential inequality of opportunity between these groups.

• On a more positive note, people are more confident about returning to indoor sports facilities when compared to the same time last year (Wave 4 - Aug 21). The proportion of people who have done a sport or physical activity in an indoor facility in the week preceding the survey period has increased on Wave 4 (Aug 21), as has the proportion of people saying they feel confident in indoor locations such as gyms/health and fitness suites, swimming pools, sports halls or studios.

• The impact of the cost-of-living crisis is becoming increasingly evident, with more people saying cheaper activities, affordability or discounts would help them better enjoy the activities that that they are doing compared to the previous wave Wave 5 (Feb 22).

• In addition to the above, two in five respondents say the cost-of-living crisis has had a negative impact on their ability to be active, with almost three in ten saying they’ve been doing less sport and physical activity due to changes in the cost-of-living.

Activity levels

Physical activity is defined as a total of 30 mins or more of exercise which was enough to raise breathing rate.

Amount of activity done

The majority of people did physical activity on 2-4 days (42%), which is an increase on Wave 5 (Feb 22) (41%) and in line with Wave 4 (Aug 21) (44%).
The proportion who did no exercise has decreased since Wave 5 (Feb 22) (20% vs. 24%) and is in line with Wave 4 (Aug 21) (16%).
The number of people doing physical activity on 5+ days is lower today (22%) than it was in Wave 4 (Aug 21) (29%).
Respondents aged 55+ are more likely than other age groups to have done no physical activity (29% vs. 14% vs. 12%), whilst those aged 16-34 are more likely than those aged 55+ to have done physical activity on 5+ days (26% vs. 19%).
Respondents in social grade C2DE are more likely to have done no physical activity than those in ABC1 (27% vs. 12%), with the opposite the case for physical activity on 5+ days (25% vs. 19%).
Respondents without children are more likely than those with children aged 15 or under to have done no physical activity (24% vs. 12%).

Activities done

The most common activities done by respondents in the week preceding the survey period are walking for leisure (60%) and walking for travel (25%), with going to the gym, fitness or exercise classes (14%), running or jogging (13%) and swimming (12%) making up the top five. 18% of respondents did a home based activity.
Respondents are more likely than in Wave 5 (Feb 22) to have walked for leisure (60% vs. 55%).
Female respondents are more likely than males to have walked (75% vs. 64%) or been swimming (14% vs. 10%), whilst respondents aged 16-34 are more likely to have been to the gym, fitness or exercise classes (24%) or done team sports (10%)
Socio-economic group ABC1 are more likely than C2DE to have done a home based activity (23% vs. 13%), as are those with children aged 15 or under compared to those without (24% vs. 15%).
Respondents in urban areas are more likely than those in rural areas to have been to the gym, fitness or exercise class (16% vs. 8%).
Of those who walk for travel, six in ten (60%) do so on their own, whilst just under three in five (58%) of those who walk for leisure do so with somebody else, an increase from 52% in Wave 4 (Aug 21) and 45% in Wave 5 (Feb 22).
Three quarters (76%) of those who go running or jogging, three in ten of those who go to the gym, fitness or exercise class (58%), and two in five (39%) of those who go swimming also do so alone.
Male respondents are more likely than female respondents to walk for travel alone (67% vs. 51%), with the same true for walking for leisure (52% vs. 33%).
Respondents aged 35-54 and 55+ are more likely than 16-34s to walk for travel alone (66% vs. 68% vs. 49%), with 55+ more likely than 16-34s to walk for leisure alone (48% vs. 34%).
Three in five respondents say they have walked for either leisure of travel regularly (at least once per month) in the last three months (62%), whilst one in five say they have gone to the gym, fitness or exercise class (20%) and 19% have been swimming regularly.
One in ten (12%) say they have done no regular physical activity in the last three months.
The proportion of respondents saying they have gone to the gym, fitness or exercise class has increased from Wave 4 (Aug 21) (20% vs. 13%).
Female respondents are more likely than males to say they have walked for either leisure or travel (67% vs. 56%), whilst males are more likely to have cycled (18% vs. 11%) or done team sports (9% vs. 2%).
Respondents aged 55+ are more likely to say they have done no regular exercise in the last three months (19% )
16-34s are more likely to have gone to the gym, fitness or exercise class (36%) or have been running or jogging (27%)
Respondents in social grade ABC1 are more likely than those in social grade C2DE to have been to the gym, fitness or exercise class (27% vs. 14%).

Reasons for taking part

More than half of respondents (57%) say they exercise to help manage their physical health, whilst three in five (58%) say they exercise to help manage their mental health, an increase from 53% in Wave 5 (Feb 22).
Of those who have done physical activity regularly in the last three months, three in five respondents (58%) ranked being physically healthy as their top reason for taking part, with one in five (19%) ranking feeling good as their top reason.
Of those who have done physical activity regularly in the last three months, three quarters (76%) ranked being physically healthy in their top 5 reasons for taking part, with seven in ten (72%) selecting feeling good and three in five (59%) getting out of the house. The proportion of respondents ranking getting out of the house in their top 5 has dropped to 59% from 67% in Wave 4 (Aug 21) and 66% in Wave 5 (Feb 22).

Volunteering

• Just under half of respondents (46%) have not volunteered in sport and physical activity in the last three years, whilst more than one in ten (13%) are currently volunteering and one in ten (10%) have stopped volunteering.

o Male respondents are more likely than females to currently be volunteering (18% vs. 8%), as are respondents aged 16-34 (20% vs. 13% vs. 7%), those from social grade ABC1 (18% vs. 8%), those with children aged 15 or under (18% vs. 10%) and those who did physical activity on 5+ days (20% vs. 3% vs. 10% vs. 14%).

o However, 16-34s are also more likely to have stopped volunteering (16% vs. 10% vs. 6%), as are those with children aged 15 or under (13% vs. 8%)

• Almost half of respondents say they won’t be volunteering in the next 12 months (47%), whilst a third say they are likely to volunteer in the next 12 months to support sport and physical activity (32%).

• A third also say they are likely to volunteer to support a cause outside of coronavirus or sport and physical activity (32%) or to support the response to coronavirus (32%), a dip from 36% in Wave 4 (Aug 21).

o Respondents in social grade C2DE are more likely to say they won’t be volunteering in the next 12 months (51% vs. 43%), as are those with no children (50% vs. 42%) and those who did no physical activity compared to those who did on 5+ days (53% vs. 36%).

o Respondents aged 16-34 are more likely to say they are likely to volunteer to support the response to coronavirus (42% vs. 30%. vs. 26%), as are those in social grade ABC1 (37% vs. 27%) and those who did physical activity on 5+ days compared to those who did none (39% vs. 14%).

o Male respondents (36% vs. 30%), those aged 16-34 (50% vs. 34% vs. 19%), those in social grade ABC1 (40% vs. 26%), those with children aged 15 or under (44% vs. 26%) and those who did physical activity on 5+ days compared to those who did none (44% vs. 10%) are more likely to say they are likely to volunteer to support sport and physical activity.

o Respondents aged 16-34 are more likely to say they are likely to volunteer to support a cause outside of coronavirus or sport and physical activity (47% vs. 33%. vs. 22%), as are those in social grade ABC1 (40% vs. 25%), those with children aged 15 or under (42% vs. 27%) and those who did physical activity on 5+ days compared to those who did none (42% vs. 13%).

Transport

• Two in five respondents (40%) say they do not travel by private motor-vehicle to get to any sport or physical activity they take part in, whilst one in ten (12%) say they do so once, a third 2-4 times (32%) and 8% 5+ times.

o Respondents aged 55+ are more likely to say they do not travel by private motor-vehicle (50% vs. 28% vs. 36%), while respondents aged 16-34 are more likely to do so 2-4 times (42% vs. 34% vs. 25%).

o Respondents in social grade CD2E are more likely to say they do not travel by private motor-vehicle (43% vs. 36%), whilst those in social grade ABC1 are more likely to do so 2-4 times (36% vs. 29%) and 5+ times (10% vs. 6%).

o Respondents with no children are more likely to say they do not travel by private motor-vehicle (45% vs. 30%), whilst those with children aged 15 or under are more likely to do so 2-4 times.

o Respondents who did no physical activity are more likely to say they do not travel by private motor-vehicle (63% vs. 37% vs. 32% vs. 37%), whilst those who did physically activity on 5+ days are more likely to do so 2-4 times (32% vs. 9%) and 5+ times (14% vs. 2% vs. 7% vs. 6%).

Cost-of-living

• Two in five respondents (41%) say the cost-of-living crisis has had a negative impact on their ability to be active, with less than one in ten (9%) saying it has had a positive impact.

o Female respondents are more likely than males to agree that the cost-of-living crisis has had a negative impact on their ability to be active (44% vs. 37%), as are 16-34s and 35-54s compared to 55+ (46% vs. 50% vs. 30%).

o Respondents in social grade ABC1 are more likely than those in C2DE to say the cost-of-living crisis has had a positive impact on their ability to be active (13% vs. 6%).

o Respondents with children aged 15 or under are more likely than those without to say the cost-of-living crisis has had a negative impact on their ability to be active (51% vs. 35%).

o Respondents who did physical activity on 5+ days are more likely than those who did no physical activity or 1 day to say the cost-of-living crisis has had a positive impact on their ability to be active (12% vs. 4% vs. 3%).

• Almost half (48%) of respondents say the changes in the cost-of-living have not impacted their participation in sport and physical activity, whilst three in ten (29%) say they’ve been doing less sport and physical activity due to changes in the cost-of-living and one in ten (10%) that they’ve been doing more.

o Respondents aged 55+ are more likely to say the changes in the cost-of-living have not impacted their participation (67% vs. 32% vs. 37%), whilst those aged 16-34 are more likely to say they have been doing more physical activity as a result of the crisis (17% vs. 11% vs. 3%).

o Respondents in social grade ABC1 are more likely than those in social grade C2DE to say they have been doing more physical activity as a result of the crisis (13% vs. 6%).

o Respondents who did activity on 5+ days are more likely than those who did none or 1 day to say they’ve been doing more physical activity as a result of the crisis (15% vs. 2% vs. 5%), whilst those who did so on 2-4 days are more likely than those who did no activity or 5+ days to say they’ve been doing less (34% vs. 23% vs. 22%).