A campaign was launched today to encourage 20 million inactive adults in Britain to take some exercise.
An analysis by the British Heart Foundation says that women are more likely to be inactive than men.
The foundation says that 11.8 million women and 8.3 million men are inactive.
And on average men spend the equivalent of 78 days a year sedentary – more than 20% of their time, according to its analysis.
It released its figures as it launched a drive to recruit thousands more to its "My Marathon" challenge. Participants have to run the length of a marathon over the course of a month and raise money for the foundation at the same time.
Some 30,000 people took part in the running challenge last year.
Foundation associate medical director Dr Mike Knapton said: "Levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour in the UK remain stubbornly high, and combined these two risk factors present a substantial threat to our cardiovascular health and risk of early death.
“Making physical activity easier and more accessible for all is of paramount importance if we are to reduce the burden of inactivity-related ill health."
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