Walking our way back to health.

Walking is good for us, walking briskly for just ten minutes every day can bring about dramatic improvements in physical and mental health.

Globally the World Health Organisation cites being physically inactive as the fourth greatest risk factor for early mortality. People with active lifestyles have a 25% to 35% lower risk of heart disease, they also have a lower risk of obesity, cancer and diabetes.

Being physically active is also something that helps to promotes mental wellbeing.

Figures published by Public Health England show that 4 in 10 adults aged between 40 and 60, 40% of the people surveyed said they walked briskly less than once a month.

This is matched by figures for the number of people who reported being physically inactive, meaning they do less than thirty minutes moderately intense activity a week.

Three million adults in the 40 to 60 age group reported being physically inactive, with proportionally more living in the West Midlands (23%), compared to the South East and South West (15%).

Professor Paul Cosford Managing Director of Public Health England said in a statement to the media 'managing all the pressures of everyday life can mean that exercise takes a back seat, building a brisk walk into your daily routine is a simple way to get more active.'

The NHS Choices website recommends building walking more into what you do every day by getting off the bus one stop earlier and using the stairs instead of taking the lift.

We all know being more active is good for our health, but the sofa exerts a magnetic pull, never mind, if you are of the generation most in need of moving more, having been put off exercise for life by Kes style games lessons at school.

Walking, perhaps, offers a gentler and less competitive alternative requiring no expensive kit and unflattering Lycra outfits. At least it would if it were made a bit easier to do.

Advising people to walk briskly for ten minutes a day and giving them a whizzy app with which to track their progress is all well and good; but creating an environment where that isn't a chore would be even better.

That means spending money on making public spaces safe and welcoming and creating a working culture where people can go for a, not so gentle, stroll at lunchtime without feeling they are at risk of being judged as slackers.

Tasks that put the ball firmly back in the court of local and national government, with employers and the NHS warming up on the side-lines.