LACK of exercise is costing a Hampshire city around £1.7million per year in healthcare, a leading heart charity has warned.

The cost of treating long-term problems linked to low physical activity is on the rise in Winchester, the British Heart Foundation claims.

Among these conditions is coronary heart disease. Around 3,500 people in the district live with the disease, according to the figures, costing £800,000 a year in primary and secondary care.

Daily Echo:

National guidelines recommend that adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week. Moderate-intensity activity will raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.

The report also reveals that 44 per cent of British adults do no moderate exercise, more than in many European countries.

Catherine Kelly, director of prevention, survival and support at the BHF, said: “It is staggering the amount of money that inactivity is costing health services in Winchester every year.

“Encouraging people to be more active and less sedentary will help reduce their risk of heart disease and will save millions of pounds for health services.

“BHF research has shown that even making small, more active changes to your daily routine can improve your heart health.

“If we are to ease the burden of this country’s eye-watering physical inactivity costs then people need to take action to improve their health.