A study just coming out in the American Journal of Public Health reports on the big impact of walking and bicycling in combating two major U.S. public health epidemics – obesity and diabetes.

The team of researchers, led by John Pucher, PhD, professor of urban planning at Rutgers University, looked at health and travel data for 14 countries, all 50 U.S. states and 47 of the 50 largest American cities.

They found, as have others, that there was a measurable relationship between physical activity and self-reported obesity.  They also found statistically significant positive relationships between active travel and diabetes. Over half of the variation among countries’ obesity rates was linked to differences in walking and cycling rates.

Professor John Pucher has been described as one of the world’s pre-eminent “bicycle scholars”.  Over the past twelve years, his research has focused on walking and bicycling. His international comparative analysis has included Australia, Canada, the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and several other European countries. The main objective is to determine what American, Canadian, and Australian cities could learn from each other and from European cities to improve the safety, convenience, and feasibility of these non-motorized modes. In an interview, he talked about cycling in U.S. cities:

“....40% of all trips in American cities are shorter than 2 miles and 25% of all trips in American cities are shorter than 1 mile. Now let me tell you, cycling 1 or 2 miles is nothing. Almost anyone can cycle 1 or 2 miles. So there's a huge potential there.40% of all trips in American cities are shorter than 2 miles and 25% of all trips in American cities are shorter than 1 mile. Now let me tell you, cycling 1 or 2 miles is nothing. Almost anyone can cycle 1 or 2 miles. So there's a huge potential there.”

Pucher and his fellow researchers concluded that their study, which agrees with others that have been done, demonstrates the health benefits of active travel. To encourage more walking and cycling for daily travel, they suggested that policies on transport, land-use and urban development be designed .

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photo by PeterBlanchard.ca