People working in small businesses in IT across the UK are likely among the unhealthiest in the country, according to a new poll.

A study of 1,734 working Brits by Fat Free Fitness discovered that employees in the IT industry in jobs including website design, development and technical support have been associated with the smallest amount of exercise out of all the professions nationwide.

Rich Leigh, a personal trainer and the founder of Fat Free Fitness, explained that while the government is spending millions on obesity and healthy eating plans, it still does not talk the "language of the times".

He added: "People are leaving gyms and becoming less active and it's because on the whole, people can't afford them. Incentivise exercise by funding small business gym discounts, and I guarantee healthier workers."

This week, the Daily Mail revealed a new study from the University of Exeter which showed that exercise could help stop people wanting to smoke.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.