Your weekly physical activity bulletin

04 March 2025

We are working towards improving the health and wellbeing of the nation through sport, exercise and physical activity. For more information on our work visit our website or follow us on X @NCSEM_PAnews

Labelling food with the physical activity required to burn off calories reduces sugary food purchases in secondary school pupils, study finds

A trial at English secondary schools of alternative food labelling – which displayed the number of minutes of physical activity needed to burn off calories – reduced the purchase of sugary foods by a small amount, new research has found.

The study was led by Dr Natalia Iris and Professor Amanda Daley, who are part of Loughborough University’s Centre for Lifestyle Medicine and Behaviour (CLiMB). 

It analysed almost 100,000 purchases of cakes and biscuits from 11 school canteens over a six-week period. Six schools used physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) food labelling on their sweet treats, and five schools continued with their usual practice. 

PACE food labelling aims to show how many minutes or miles of physical activity are needed to burn off the calories in a particular food or drink. For example, eating 230 calories in a small bar of chocolate would require about 46 minutes of walking or 23 minutes of running to burn off these calories.

Tailored exercise sessions benefit (post-hospitalised) long-COVID patients, study finds

Exercise-based rehabilitation has been found to improve the short-term exercise capacity of 181 people with post-COVID syndrome (who had been hospitalised with COVID).

The study, published in the European Respiratory Journal on 26 February also discovered significant immune benefits of face-to-face rehabilitation.

In the trial, researchers funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) compared two exercise-based rehabilitation interventions. The eight week program of individually prescribed exercise and education were either face-to-face or remote (delivered through a website).

This Girl Can highlights barriers facing women on lower incomes

New research by Sport England's This Girl Can campaign has revealed that only one in 10 women from lower-income backgrounds feel they completely belong in the world of physical activity – highlighting deep-rooted barriers to inclusion, affordability and tailored support.

The insights find that for women on lower incomes from underrepresented groups – including Black women, Asian Muslim women, pregnant women, new mothers, and older women – the challenges and feelings of not being included are even greater.

After marking the 10^th anniversary of This Girl Can at the start of this year, Sport England is launching a new campaign phase – ‘Belonging Starts with Inclusion’ – which agitates for the change needed for all women, from all backgrounds, to feel that they belong in the world of sport and physical activity.

New figures illustrate impact of investing in physical activity

Every £1 spent on community sport and physical activity generates over £4 for the English economy and society. 

That’s the headline finding of new analysis by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University and Manchester Metropolitan University. 

The analysis, which Sport England commissioned, reveals the combined social and economic value of community sport and physical activity in England in 2022/23 was £148 billion. The combined financial and non-financial investment in community sport and physical activity for the same period was £35 billion. 

Parliamentary physical activity challenge ‘Fit for Office’ hits record number of entrants as new UK Parliament limbers up

Politicians across Westminster are getting ready to celebrate the importance of physical activity by joining ‘Fit for Office’, a challenge that encourages them to be more active and lead by example on workplace wellbeing.

Organised by ukactive, the UK’s trade body for the physical activity sector, and supported by global fitness tracking provider Myzone, the challenge started on 1st March and runs throughout the month.

This year, a record 207 entrants have signed up to take part, from 50 Parliamentary offices. Last year’s challenge saw 146 participants take up the challenge.

Sport and exercise during Ramadan

It’s Ramadan – the Holy Month in the Islamic calendar! During this month, Muslims observe a period of fasting where they refrain from food and drink between the break of dawn and sunset. 

Nutrition and hydration are important parts to participating in physical activity which is why fasting can have an impact. This doesn’t mean that the Muslim community stop taking part in sport and exercise throughout Ramadan. 

Sport Wales has highlighted the advice from The Muslim Sports Foundation and some of the activities taking place in Wales during Ramadan.

The weekly physical activity bulletin in a summary of news stories that appear across the physical activity sector. The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine is not responsible for the content of external sites.

You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive it either via the SSEHS Active website or the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (East Midlands) website. Read our privacy policy.