Leader: We must do more to get Scots involved in sports

​Barriers preventing people from taking part in physical activity must be tackled to improve the health of the nation

We Scots like to think of ourselves as a sporting nation - and not without some justification.

In sports ranging from athletics to football, from swimming to cycling, we have long punched above our weight, out-performing countries of similar size.

But the findings of a survey today for the Observatory for Sport in Scotland should ring alarm bells not only for our prospects of continued sporting success but for the overall health of the nation.

Runners taking part in last year's Edinburgh Marathon Festival. Picture: Andy O'Brien

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The study found a quarter of Scots never do any exercise, with only 46 per cent of the adult population regularly taking part in sport or physical activity.

Even more worryingly, the study found there is an economic divide in sport and physical activity levels that has grown since the coronavirus pandemic.

Among adults with annual incomes of less than £20,000, just 36 per cent take part in regular sport or physical activity. This compares with 59 per cent of adults earning more than £40,000 a year.

Sport benefits both those taking part and the country as a whole, as a healthier and happier population would help ease the strain on our over-burdened NHS.

It is in everyone’s interests that barriers that prevent people, particularly from less affluent backgrounds, taking part in sport are removed.