Sport England has pledged to spend £250m over the next five years to help tackle inactivity.

It has published its five-year strategy today, which will include greater focus on groups who typically do less activity such as women, disabled people and those on low incomes.

Sport England will also set up a new fund for family based activities, and will partner up with 10 places in England to pilot new ways of working locally.

Chief executive of Sport England, Jennie Price, said: ‘In the next four years we’re going to dedicate more time, expertise and over £250m to tackling inactivity. We will be the single largest national investor in projects for people to whom sport and physical activity is a distant thought, or not even on their radar.

‘Customers – the people who play sport and are active or who might be in future – will be at the heart of everything we do. It’s by putting them first that we’ll be best able to build a more active nation.’

Responding to the strategy, cllr Ian Stephens, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: ‘Sedentary lifestyles are a contributing factor to the child obesity crisis we are facing. Unless we act now, the number of obese adults in the country is forecast to soar by a staggering 73% to 26 million people over the next 20 years.

‘That is why offering training to at least two teachers in every secondary school in England to help them better meet the needs of all children, irrespective of their level of sporting ability is also well-timed.

‘The emphasis on exploring new ways of working locally by investing in up to 10 specific areas to pilot new approaches to getting people active is also positive and an opportunity for councils to bid for funding.’