• Posted July 17, 2024

Biking, Walking to Work a Game-Changer for Health

Bicycling to work can vastly improve your health and reduce your risk of death, a new study shows.

People who bike commute have a 47% lower overall risk of an early death, researchers found.

They also are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer and mental health problems, results show.

Walking to work also conferred some health benefits, but bicycle commuting provided the strongest boost to a person's well-being, researchers reported July 16 in the journal BMJ Public Health.

"This study provides timely evidence of the health benefits of active commuting for both local, national and international policymakers,"concluded the research team led by Catherine Friel, a doctoral researcher with the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

For this report, researchers analyzed data from a national health study in Scotland involving 5% of the Scottish population.

As part of the national study, participants were asked how they commuted to work. Their responses were linked to records of national hospital admissions, drug prescriptions and deaths between 2001 and 2018.

Researchers found that commuting by bicycle was associated with:

• A 51% lower risk of dying from cancer

• A 24% lower risk of being hospitalized for cancer

• A 24% lower risk of hospital admission for heart disease

• A 30% lower risk of being prescribed a heart medication

• A 20% lower risk of receiving a prescription for mental health problems

There was one downside -- bike commuters were twice as likely to be admitted to a hospital following a traffic wreck, results show.

"Our finding that cyclist commuters have twice the risk of being a road traffic casualty compared with non-active commuters reinforces the need for safer cycling infrastructure,"the researchers said.

Walking also benefitted health, including:

• An 11% lower risk of landing in the hospital for any reason.

• A 10% lower risk of hospitalization for heart disease.

• A 10% lower risk of receiving prescription drugs for heart disease.

• A 7% lower risk of being prescribed meds for a mental health problem.

"Active commuting has population-level health benefits and can contribute to reduced morbidity and mortality,"researchers concluded. "That cyclist and pedestrian commuting is associated with lower risks of being prescribed medication for poor mental health is an important finding."

More information

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has more on the health benefits of bike commuting.

SOURCE: BMJ, news release, July 16, 2024