ON YER BIKE....STUDY IN THE BMJ SHOWS THAT CYCLING CUTS DOWN ON CANCERS AND HEART DISEASE...
Discussion
Commuting by walking was associated with a lower risk of CVD incidence and mortality. However, commuting by cycling was associated with the lowest risk of these as well as lower risks of all cause mortality and cancer, with dose dependent relations for all outcomes. Mixed mode commuting was associated with some benefits but only if the active component comprised cycling. These associations were independent of sex, age, deprivation, ethnicity, smoking status, recreational and occupational physical activity, sedentary behaviour, dietary patterns, and other confounding factors, including body mass index and comorbidities. These results are relevant, because active commuting on a daily basis is an important contributor to total physical activity.3456 Encouraging active commuting, particularly by cycling, may be a viable approach to deliver health benefits related to physical activity at the population level.
The risk reductions associated with active commuting are likely to be related to their contribution to overall daily physical activity, and potentially to cardiorespiratory fitness, for which the associations with lower mortality, CVD incidence, and cancer incidence are well established.1821222324 Cycling commuters, and mixed mode cycling commuters, had greater overall physical activity and fitness than walking commuters. This finding may reflect the greater exercise intensity of cycling compared with walking.25 While approximately 90% of cycle commuters and approximately 80% of mixed mode cycling commuters achieved current physical activity guidelines, only 54% of walking commuters and approximately 50% of mixed mode walking commuters did; a similar proportion to non-active commuters (51%). The findings support the benefits of active commuting, particularly commuting with a cycling component. To produce meaningful benefits for walking commuters, longer distances may be needed. In the present cohort, a lower risk for CVD incidence was only evident among the walking commuters who covered more than six miles a week (equivalent to two hours of weekly commuting by walking at a typical pace of three miles an hour).
The strong evidence base for both overall and leisure related physical activity,2627 contrasts with relatively few and conflicting studies of non-leisure physical activity, such as active commuting, and prospective health outcomes.78910111213 The large population size of the present study provided sufficient power to compare different forms of active commuting, including mixed modes of commuting with active and non-active components, in relation to a range of outcomes. In particular, previous studies showing benefits of active commuting have often been in countries where levels of active commuting are high and the supporting infrastructure is good (eg, Nordic countries and China).789111213 The data from this study extended the evidence base to the UK, where active commuting is less common. This has important policy implications, suggesting that policies designed to affect a population level modal shift to more active modes of commuting, particularly cycle commuting (eg, cycle lanes, city bike hire, subsidised cycle purchase schemes, and increasing provision for cycles on public transport), present major opportunities for the improvement of public health.