Brits Are Couch Potatoes Shocker!

Specially commissioned surveys, you've got to love them, but this one from The North Face had us in stitches thanks to the way it confirmed what we've always believed, vis, that the majority of Brits are exercise-shy couch potatoes most of whom baulk at leaving the sofa.

Among the survey's findings was the extraordinary statistic that 32 per-cent of Britons would refuse to take a ten-minute stroll, only 15 per-cent of Britons expected to do anything active over the May Bank holiday and almost 40 per-cent of Brits visit the countryside only two to three times a year - and hey, they're probably exaggerating...

It's all a magnificent slap in the face for the government's new exercise strategy which suggests we should all do 30 minutes exercise at least five times a week. And good news for the spread of obesity.

You'll be glad to learn that there are regional differences too. People in the midlands are least likely to walk anywhere, with 38 per-cent opting for the car rather than a ten-minute journey on foot. By contrast on 23 per-cent of Yorkshire folk would take the car, meaning they're either healthier or meaner, erm, cannier. Take your pick.

Scots are most likely to get out into the countryside, while predictably, Londoners are the least likely to step outside the urban murk with only 25 per-cent travelling to the countryside 'most weekends'. The Scots manage a whopping 79 per-cent...

"The results of this survey show how lazy the majority of people in this country have become. The weather might not be great in the UK but our countryside has a lot to offer and fresh air and exercise are very important for people's physical and mental health," comments Keith Byrne of TNF whose physical fitness isn't in question, though his fanatical commitment to adventure racing might undermine any comments about the mental health of others.

Clearly these lazy, good for nothing, urbanites need to get outside now, and what better kit to wear while doing it than the latest TNF range? Cynical? Moi? I had that Tony Blair in the back of my cab the other day...