A Mori poll, commissioned by the Schools Department, found that 23% of five to 19-year-olds are not taking part in any form of organised sport, defined as “sport, dance or other physical activity which is organised and led by an instructor like a coach, teacher, sports leader or someone else, including any events or competitions.”

The problem also appeared to worsen as children grew older.  In a sample of 12,000 children and teenagers who were interviewed, more than one in 10 five to 16-year-olds did not partake in any organised sport.  The figure almost reached three out of five for 16 to 19-year-olds.

Participents in the survey were asked how many times they attended school or college in the last seven days and how much time they spent participating in organised sport both during the school day and outside school over that period.

Ian Wright, the Schools Minister, said:

“Mori questioned children aged five upwards about the specific previous week where there could have been one-off changes to the timetable due to bad weather or the pupils was absent or on school holidays.

“Our focus is now on the more challenging ambition of getting young people to take up five hours PE and sport a week.  Today’s survey findings give us a good idea of what remains to be done to get more children and young people taking up the five hour offer.”

Critics dismissed the idea that bad weather was responsible for such poor figures.

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman, said:

“The Government’s excuse is pretty desperate and unconvincing.

“It is hardly likely that bad weather is a serious excuse when the survey has taken place over such a long period of time.  The real issue is more likely to be a lack of making time for sports in the curriculum together with poor facilities in some schools.

“It’s astonishing that a large number of pupils seem not to be engaged in sporting activities.  This seems to contradict all of the Government’s assurances that they were succeeding in increasing the numbers of young people engaged in sport.”

Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said:

“We are way off what we should be doing for our children in terms of sport and it will be a long time before we get anything comparable to a good record.”