The numbers
What the research says, and what 3Lite does about it
Official figures and published research on how people in the UK train, eat, sleep and stick with it, and why keeping it all in one connected app helps. Every number links to its source.
Activity in the UK
64.6%
of adults in England do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, the highest since Sport England's survey began.
Source: Sport England, 2026
1 in 4
adults in England (24.7%, 11.8 million) do less than 30 minutes of activity a week.
Source: Sport England, 2026
15.3m
adults in England take part in fitness activities, 921,000 more than the year before.
Source: Sport England, 2026
31%
of adults worldwide (about 1.8 billion people) didn't do enough physical activity in 2022. WHO projects 35% by 2030 if trends continue.
Source: World Health Organization, 2024
150 + 2
The NHS advises adults to do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, plus strengthening activities on at least 2 days.
Source: NHS, 2024
8–10k
In a pooled analysis of 15 studies, more daily steps were linked to lower risk of death, levelling off at about 8,000–10,000 steps a day for under-60s.
Source: The Lancet Public Health (Paluch et al.), 2022
What 3Lite does: 3Lite plans training around the days you actually have, and counts steps and active minutes. See how
Strength training
36% / 29%
Only 36% of men and 29% of women in England met the guideline of muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days a week.
Source: NHS England, 2023
30%
of adults in England met both the aerobic and the muscle-strengthening activity guidelines.
Source: NHS England, 2023
15%
A meta-analysis of 16 studies found muscle-strengthening activity was associated with a 15% lower risk of death from any cause. The authors rated the evidence as low certainty.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine (Momma et al.), reported by Hospital Healthcare Europe, 2022
40%
The same analysis found combining strength and aerobic activity was associated with a 40% lower risk of death from any cause.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine (Momma et al.), reported by Hospital Healthcare Europe, 2022
+0.37%
A meta-analysis found each extra weekly set of resistance training was associated with about 0.37% more muscle growth: one reason 3Lite counts your weekly sets.
Source: Journal of Sports Sciences (Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger), 2017
What 3Lite does: Programmes balance weekly sets for every muscle, and You vs You makes each session a small win. See how
Sticking with it
63%
One study of 5,240 gym members' records found 63% of new members stopped before their third month.
Source: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (Sperandei et al.), 2016
37%
In a one-year study of 250 new gym members, the share training regularly fell from 52% at three months to 37% at twelve.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology (Gjestvang et al.), 2021
43%
A meta-analysis of app-based health programmes found that, on average, 43% of participants dropped out.
Source: Journal of Medical Internet Research (Meyerowitz-Katz et al.), 2020
37%
of UK adults say they find it hard to make time for physical activity, and 28% say they feel too tired.
Source: Mental Health Foundation, 2024
82%
of UK adults agree regular physical activity is important for mental health and wellbeing.
Source: Mental Health Foundation, 2024
What 3Lite does: Unlogged is never "missed", sessions move instead of breaking the plan, and the Consistency Score rewards the fortnight, not the day. See how
Food and self-monitoring
74%
A review of 39 studies found more digital self-monitoring of diet, weight or activity was linked to weight loss in 74% of cases where it was measured.
Source: Obesity (Patel, Wakayama & Bennett), 2021
22 studies
A systematic review of 22 studies consistently found a link between self-monitoring (food diaries, exercise logs, weighing) and weight loss, though the evidence was weak.
Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association (Burke, Wang & Sevick), 2011
48%
of UK adults track their exercise, 30% their weight or diet and 22% their sleep.
Source: YouGov, 2024
64%
of adults in England were overweight or living with obesity in 2022.
Source: NHS England, 2024
1.2–2.0 g/kg
of protein a day is recommended for people who train, according to the American College of Sports Medicine guidance cited by the British Nutrition Foundation.
Source: British Nutrition Foundation, 2023
76 g
is the average daily protein intake of UK adults aged 19 to 64.
Source: British Nutrition Foundation, 2023
6–8
cups or glasses of fluid a day is the UK guidance, and more if you're active for long periods.
Source: NHS, 2023
What 3Lite does: A food diary on UK government food data, with barcode scanning, recipes and saved meals. See how
Sleep and recovery
3 nights
a week of good-quality sleep is all the average UK adult gets.
Source: Mental Health Foundation, 2025
1 in 7
UK adults say they don't get the sleep they need to function well on any day in a typical week.
Source: Mental Health Foundation, 2025
7.6%
A meta-analysis of 69 studies found acute sleep loss reduced exercise performance by 7.6% on average.
Source: Sports Medicine (Craven et al.), 2022
What 3Lite does: Log sleep in seconds; after a short night, training holds steady instead of pushing. See how
Supplements
3 in 4
UK adults take supplements, according to a Which? survey, and two-thirds of them take them daily.
Source: Which?, 2025
37%
of UK supplement users had asked a healthcare professional for advice before taking them.
Source: Which?, 2025
10 µg
of vitamin D a day in autumn and winter is what the NHS advises everyone to consider.
Source: NHS, 2020
What 3Lite does: Record what you take with a researched library and stock that counts itself. 3Lite never suggests amounts. See how
Prescriptions and enhancement drugs
1.6m
adults in Great Britain (2.9%) used a GLP-1 medicine such as Wegovy or Mounjaro for weight loss in the past year.
Source: BMC Medicine (Jackson et al.), 2026
15%
of people in Great Britain using GLP-1 medicines for weight loss reported using one not licensed for weight loss in the UK.
Source: BMC Medicine (Jackson et al.), 2026
5,000+
illegally traded GLP-1 products were seized by the MHRA in 2025. The MHRA's advice: always use a registered pharmacy.
Source: MHRA (GOV.UK), 2026
+52%
Testosterone items dispensed in the community in England rose by 52% between 2020/21 and 2024/25 (NHS prescriptions only).
Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 2026
4%
In a 2016 UK survey of 684 people using image and performance enhancing drugs, 55% of those with side effects waited for them to pass; only 4% were treated by their GP.
Source: Liverpool John Moores University / Public Health Wales, 2016
What 3Lite does: An opt-in, private log for prescriptions and other compounds. Record-keeping only, with a clear warning. See how
Women's health and training
9 in 10
exercising women in a study of 6,812 reported mood changes or anxiety with their cycle; 86% reported tiredness and 84% stomach cramps.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine (Bruinvels et al.), 2021
~90%
Women with the most frequent cycle symptoms had almost a 90% chance of missing or changing training, or using pain relief.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine (Bruinvels et al.), 2021
51%
of UK women aged 44 and under use an app or device to track their menstrual cycle.
Source: YouGov, 2024
62% vs 67%
Women in England are still less likely to be active than men: 62.2% meet the activity guideline, compared with 67.3% of men.
Source: Sport England, 2026
What 3Lite does: Optional cycle tracking that goes by your symptoms, with a lighter session when you choose. See how
Injuries
< ⅓
A meta-analysis of 25 trials found strength training cut sports injuries to less than a third, the most effective prevention method studied.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine (Lauersen et al.), BJSM blog, 2014
0.24–1
injuries per 1,000 hours in bodybuilding, the lowest of the weight-training sports, which have low injury rates compared with common team sports.
Source: Sports Medicine (Keogh & Winwood), 2017
What 3Lite does: Report an injury and rest goes on the calendar while exercises that load the area step aside. See how
Health data and privacy
88%
of more than 15,000 free health apps studied contained code that could access, and potentially share, personal data.
Source: The BMJ (Tangari et al.), reported by News-Medical, 2021
28%
of the health apps in the same BMJ study offered no privacy policy text at all.
Source: The BMJ (Tangari et al.), reported by News-Medical, 2021
59%
of women in an ICO-commissioned poll said transparency over how their data is used was a concern with period and fertility apps.
Source: Information Commissioner's Office poll, reported by Research Live, 2023
18 of 25
reproductive health apps and wearables reviewed by Mozilla got its 'Privacy Not Included' warning.
Source: Mozilla Foundation, 2022
What 3Lite does: Private by default, never sold or used for advertising, and yours to download or delete. See how
Habits and reminders
59–66 days
is the median time a health habit took to form in a 2024 review, from 4 to 335 days depending on the person. Not 21.
Source: Healthcare (Singh et al.), 2024
4 a week
In a study of 111 new gym members, training at least four times a week for six weeks was the minimum to build an exercise habit.
Source: Journal of Behavioral Medicine (Kaushal & Rhodes), 2015
More steps
A meta-analysis found text-message programmes led to modestly more daily steps, measured objectively, than no messages.
Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Smith et al.), 2020
What 3Lite does: Reminders you choose, with quiet hours, a pause button and no guilt. See how
Training with others
+16%
higher odds of regular gym attendance per point of social support from friends and family, in a one-year study of new members.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology (Gjestvang et al.), 2021
44 studies
A meta-analysis of 44 studies found exercising in a close-knit group worked better than a standard exercise class.
Source: University of Birmingham (Burke, Carron, Eys, Ntoumanis & Estabrooks), 2006
What 3Lite does: An opt-in community for sharing the wins you choose. See how
Signal at the gym
Fitness apps and gyms
12.2m
UK health and fitness club members, a record, according to the ukactive UK Health & Fitness Market Report 2026.
Source: ukactive report, via PAF Media, 2026
3.6bn
health and fitness app downloads worldwide in 2024, a record.
Source: Sensor Tower, 2025
US$12.1bn
was the global fitness app market in 2025, by one estimate, forecast to reach US$33.6bn by 2033.
Source: Grand View Research, 2025
30% / 23%
of British men and women who train as often as possible use fitness apps.
Source: YouGov, 2022
How we chose these figures
We use official UK sources first (such as NHS England, the Office for National Statistics, Sport England and government departments), then peer-reviewed research and reputable industry reports. Each figure is quoted as the source states it, with the year it describes, and was checked against the source on 17 October 2026. Figures describe groups of people, not you. Nothing here is medical advice.
Spotted something out of date? Email info@3lite.app.
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