Transportation by cycling is linked to high health benefits like good mental health, better self-perceived general health and fewer feelings of loneliness, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Environmental Health. The study formed part of the EU funded PASTA project and was carried out in seven European cities: Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Örebro, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich.
‘Cycling is linked to better self-perceived general health and mental health, greater energy, lower stress and feelings of loneliness.’
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A baseline questionnaire was completed by more than 8,800 people, 3,500 of whom also completed a final survey, on transport and health that included questions about what transport modes they used, how often they used the different transport modes, and how they perceived their general health. The mental-health section of the survey focused on the four major dimensions of mental health (anxiety, depression, loss of emotional control, and psychological well-being), vitality (energy level and fatigue) and perceived stress. The survey also asked about participants' social relations, including questions about loneliness and contact with friends and family.
The transport modes assessed in the study were a car, motorbike, public transport, bicycle, electric bicycle and walking. The effects of these transport modes were analyzed using both single- and multiple-mode models.
The findings show that cycling yielded the best results in every analysis. Bicycles were associated with better self-perceived general health, better mental health, greater vitality, lower self-perceived stress and fewer feelings of loneliness. The second most beneficial transport mode, walking, was associated with good self-perceived general health, greater spirit, and more contact with friends and family.
"Previous studies have either analyzed transport modes in isolation or compared various transport modes to each other," commented Ione Ávila Palencia, ISGlobal researcher and lead author of the study. "Ours is the first study to associate the use of multiple urban transport modes with health effects such as mental health and social contact." "This approach allowed us to analyze the effects more realistically since today's city dwellers tend to use more than one mode of transport," she added. "It also allowed us to highlight the positive effect of walking, which in previous studies was not very conclusive."
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"The findings were similar in all of the cities we studied. This suggests that active transport especially cycling should be encouraged to improve health and increase social interaction," commented Ávila Palencia. She added that the percentage of people who cycle "remains low in all European cities, except in countries like the Netherlands and Denmark, which means that there is plenty of room to increase bicycle use."
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Other studies conducted as part of the PASTA Project have also highlighted the health benefits of cycling. One study found that cyclists have a lower body mass index than non-cyclists and another suggested that as many as 10,000 deaths could be prevented by expanding cycling networks in European cities.
Source-Eurekalert