Walking, cycling contribute to a healthy niche--study

'Active travel,' defined as bicycling or walking, as opposed to driving, formed the ground of comparison to show a correlation between city's physical activity level and rates of obesity and diabetes.

Study details and findings
Dr. David Bassett Jr., a professor in kinesiology, recreation and sport studies, along with three other researchers analyzed city- and state-level data from the United States and international data from 15 countries to study the relationship between ‘active travel,’ obesity and diabetes.

The study findings suggested that more than half of the differences in obesity rates among the countries were linked to walking and cycling rates.

In fact, there was a 30 percent decrease in the obesity rates in communities high on physical exercises.

"Perhaps the greatest strength of our analysis was that it showed that the relationship between active travel and health was discernible at three different geographic levels: international, state and city," authors said.

"A growing body of evidence suggests that differences in the built environment for physical activity (e.g., infrastructure for walking and cycling, availability of public transit, street connectivity, housing density and mixed land use) influence the likelihood that people will use active transport for their daily travel.

People who live in areas that are more conducive to walking and cycling are more likely to engage in these forms of active transport," they added.

Positive effects of active travel
The study confirmed the idea that more active communities are healthier, averred Dr. Bassett.

While comparing all 50 states, and 47 of the 50 largest American cities, the researchers concluded that states with higher rates of walking and cycling had a higher percentage of active adults, a lower percentage of obese, and diabetic adults.

The United States, which has automobiles as its main mode of transportation, fared poorly to more active European countries.

The research also highlighted the need for U.S. cities and states to increase alternate travel options as a means of lowering the ill effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Apart from this, it was also suggested that limiting car usage in certain areas, increasing parking fees and instituting car-free zones could encourage a healthy lifestyle among people.

According to the WHO reports, more than 300 million adults suffer from obesity, a contributing factor to many ailments including heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and some cancers.

The findings were published in the journal 'American Journal of Public Health.'