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
When I ran marathons, I looked at walking as a "failure,", something I resorted to in the last five miles when fatigue and leg cramps hit. I recall being passed by runners who then walked, and then ran. I plodded along but too often, these folks crept away from me even though they were walking some each mile. NY Times fitness writer Tara Parker-Pope, who is training for the New York marathon, has a great article on incorporating walking into marathon running. She starts this way: 
The maples are unfolding new bright green leaves and the ferns are unrolling from fiddlehead stage to leaf. As I walk along, checking trees to mark for next year’s wood supply, Penny cruises to and fro, enjoying all sorts of overnight scents on the wet foliage.
We pass some stacked firewood that I leave in the woods to dry over the summer and note once again that a couple of my carefully-stacked piles have toppled. That’s a project for another day.
