Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 46, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 29-32
Preventive Medicine

Inverse associations between cycling to work, public transport, and overweight and obesity: Findings from a population based study in Australia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.08.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective.

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between various modes of transport to work and overweight and obesity, in men and women.

Methods.

The study was conducted using data from a representative sample of 6810 respondents who reported being in the workforce, extracted from the 2003 New South Wales Adult Health Survey, Australia. Logistic regression modeling adjusted for potential confounders.

Results.

Men who cycled to work were significantly less likely to be overweight and obese (39.8%) compared with those driving to work (60.8%), with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.49 (95% CI: 0.31–0.76) and much less likely to be obese (5.4%) with an adjusted odds ratio 0.34 (95% CI: 0.13–0.87). Men who used public transport to work were also significantly less likely to be overweight and obese (44.6%) with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.53–0.81). However, these inverse relationships were not found in women.

Conclusions.

These findings support recommendations to cycle to work or use public transport as a strategy to maintain healthy weight for men. Although healthy weight cannot be causally attributed to cycling and use of public transport in this study, the link is plausible, and increased cycling and use of public transport would have positive benefits for the environment and health in any case.

Introduction

Our increasing reliance on private motor vehicles has not only led to traffic congestion and air pollution, and makes a significant contribution to green house gas emission but also contributes to lower levels of physical activity in the general population (WHO, 1999). The World Health Organisation has identified motor vehicles as a major contributor to sedentary lifestyles and therefore a potential link between using motor vehicles and overweight and obesity.

Active transport is any form of transport that involves physical activity, such as walking, cycling, and travelling by public transport (Davis, 1999). It has been widely promoted as a way of improving the environment, increasing physically active lifestyles and preventing overweight and obesity. The rationale for this health promotion strategy has been noted by various studies which found associations between driving, level of physical inactivity and overweight and obesity (Frank et al., 2004, Gorden-Larsen et al., 2005, Wen et al., 2006).

In a previous analysis (Wen et al., 2006), we found that driving to work was significantly associated with being overweight and obese. However, this association needs to be further explored by examining each of the various modes of transport and their unique associations with overweight and obesity and whether these associations persist across gender.

Section snippets

Methods

We extracted a subset of data from the 2003 New South Wales Adult Health Survey, which was conducted by telephone among a representative sample of residents aged 16 years or over in NSW, Australia (NSW Department of Health, 2004). The data set comprised a representative sample of 6810 respondents who reported being in the workforce, with an overall response rate of 67.9%. These respondents were asked about their modes of transport to work, which were determined by responses to the question,

Results

Distribution of modes of transport to work, level of physical activity weight status, and other demographics of the study population included in the analyses are shown in Table 1. Seventy-two percent of men drove to work compared with 68% of women. More men cycled to work than women (2.7% vs. 0.4%). Men were significantly more likely to be overweight compared with women (42% vs. 23%); however, the proportion of obese men was similar to that of women.

Table 2 shows the association between modes

Discussions

The findings of this study indicate that those people physically active in their journey to work were the least likely to be overweight or obese after taking into account leisure-time physical activity. Cycling, in particular, had a strong inverse association with being obese. However, the healthy weight benefits of cycling and use of public transport were only found in men. Due to a small number of women who cycled, the association between transport mode and weight in women could not be

Acknowledgment

The data used in this study were collected by the Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health, Australia.

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