Britain's laziness epidemic

Monday, 10 August 2009 4:57 PM

By Alex Stevenson

Britain is in the grips of a laziness epidemic from which no one - not even the government - is immune.

Research by the Nuffield Trust has revealed the truth extent to which Britain has become slothful. It claims ministers' efforts to prevent the obesity crisis escalating out of control have had little effect.

A third of respondents said they were too lazy to catch a bus. Half of dog-owners said they couldn't be bothered to take their pet for a walk. Three-quarters of couples are 'too tired' to engage in horizontal exercise after a hard day at work.

Dr Sarah Dauncey, the Nuffield Trust's medical director, said: "Ready-meals, remote controls and even internet shopping are all contributing to a dangerously lazy and idle Britain."

"The nation has fallen into a vicious circle of laziness that we must put a stop to."

Unfortunately the government, which is trying its best to prevent over half of all adults becoming obese by 2050, has suffered its own inability to take action.

Sustain, the alliance for food and farming, has accused ministers of failing to put their rhetoric about sustainability into action.

Later this morning the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will publish its one-year update to its Food Matters agenda.

But Sustain has revealed food procurement in the public sector leaves much to be desired on these issues.

At least the government has offered assistance to concerned parents, two-thirds of whom (according to the Nuffield Trust) are too tired to play with their children.

Those looking after new-borns aged between five and eight months can save on time by taking advice from the government's new BabyLifeCheck website, launched today.

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• health
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• obesity
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• public health