More people are physically inactive in an east London borough which hosted the Olympics in 2012 than anywhere else in England, research has revealed.

Almost two in five (39.17%) people in Newham take no exercise at all, according to a report from ukactive, which represents fitness organisations.

It recorded that statistic in 2013, soon after the 17 days of Olympic action in 2012 at venues in the Olympic Park, which is partly in the borough, captured the nation’s attention.

The findings raise doubts about whether the event organisers’ much repeated pledge that it would “inspire a generation” to participate in sport and be active will be realised.

Barking and Dagenham, another of the London boroughs which were meant to benefit from the Olympics, had the second highest number of totally sedentary residents. Some 38.82% of people there did not undertake any exercise whatsoever, the report says.

The level of activity recorded in both boroughs fell between 2012 and 2013.

Newham also spent only £216,000, or just 3.1% of its public health budget, in 2013-14 on schemes to boost physical activity – the lowest in the capital. However, it has since increased that to £2.1m or 15.6% of that budget.

Across England about 29% of people overall are classed as physically inactive because they do not do 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise at least once a week. That is double the levels seen in Germany and France and 20% higher than even the United States.

Inactivity is the fourth largest cause of disease and disability and contributes directly to one in six deaths in the UK, “making it as dangerous as smoking”, the report says.

David Stalker, ukactive’s chief executive officer, said that, despite the government and Public Health England recently producing major strategies to tackle the lack of exercise, “we’re facing an uphill battle to reverse the inactivity trend”.

The report, based on analysing data collected by Sport England, identifies a dramatic contrast between activity levels in well-off and deprived parts of England. Affluent Richmond upon Thames in south-west London has the lowest proportion of inactive people – 16.34% – while many of the other best performers are similarly well-off. In contrast, most of the 15 areas with the highest inactivity are poor, such as Blackpool (38.21%), Tameside in east Manchester (38.06%) and Sandwell (36.34%).

Sunderland, which also has one of the poorest rates of inactivity – 36.4% of residents take no exercise – has responded by increasing the amount of its public health budget it devotes to physical activity from £316,000 in 2013-14 to £1.849m this year.

Newham council criticised the “incomplete and inconsistent” report as an inaccurate reflection of spending on sport and physical activity. It is spending more than £20m on “leisure facilities and programmes to encourage people to get active. Getting residents involved in sport and physical activity is one of the key aims of the legacy of the 2012 Games and we are committed to delivering this,” a spokeswoman said.

“What this report does highlight is the disparity between levels of inactivity in poor boroughs such as Newham when compared with more affluent boroughs such as Richmond. Along with the other host boroughs, we have consistently challenged sport bodies to use the 2012 Games to address current inequality in sport as the top levels are still dominated by those from higher socio-economic groups and independent schools”, she added.