Girls are being put off sport by PE lessons and must be offered more "imaginative" activities – such as dance and cycling – to make sport attractive to them.

The findings come from the Women and Sport report by the cross-party House of Commons culture, media and sport committee, lead by Conservative MP John Whittingdale.

The Committee expressed concern about the long-term health and social care implications of the low participation rates in sport by women and girls, and urged a more creative approach by schools, sports governing bodies and relevant government departments to engaging women in sport.

In its report, the Committee recommends schools to co-operate with other providers to make a wider range of sports and fitness activities available and better training for PE teachers – as well as a more equitable distribution of finance between boys’ and girls’ sport.

It also highlighted the importance of positive role models and the part the media can play in promoting women’s elite sport. There was also concern over the declining number and quality of community sports facilities.

John Whittingdale MP, Chair of the Committee, said: "Sport still has too male an image, and it will require efforts from sport governing bodies, the media, schools and government departments and agencies to encourage us all to view sporting activity as a normal activity for women, which should be encouraged and facilitated.

“Good habits are learnt early, and it is a sad fact that many girls are put off sport by school games lessons. Many of our recommendations therefore are aimed at increasing the variety of sports on offer, and making it easier for girls and women to participate in locally available, affordable activities adapted to their lifestyles.

“Some sport National Governing Bodies have been more inventive and quick to adapt than others. We urge Sport England to continue to pressure the under-achievers to learn best practice from others, and we look forward to the outcome of Sport England’s imaginative initiative in Bury which aims to adapt sport to women’s lifestyles rather than expecting the reverse.

“As far as elite sportswomen are concerned, we must build on the very positive exposure given to them by the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. There is scope for greater, and better, media coverage and more commercial sponsorship, but again NGBs must be prepared to put effort into presenting and marketing women’s sport in interesting ways."

Responding to the report, Sallie Barker, CEO of the Sport and Recreation Alliance said: “We welcome the broad and far-reaching recommendations that this report is making, many of which reflect what the Alliance has long called for and outlined in our evidence to the inquiry. The challenges for women’s sport are long standing and deep rooted, which is why it’s so important for sport to work closely with government to tackle them head on.

“Making school sport more accessible for girls and promoting physical activities other than competitive sport are just some of the recommendations we think would make a clear difference, as is the need to look at how we open up more leadership positions in sport to women. There is a pool of untapped female talent out in the sports sector just waiting to be recognised and developed.”

To read the full Women and Sport report, click here to download a PDF file.