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Leaving the car both at home and walking, cycling or perhaps taking the bus to work could get a lean body, researchers from University College London (UCL) and also the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine claim in a new study.
In their British Medical Journal (BMJ) paper, Dr. Ellen Flint, a research fellow in social epidemiology at the London School, and her colleagues reported that people using active or public modes of transportation for his or her daily commute tended to have lower bodyweight and the body fat composition than those who used private transportation to get to and from their job.
Dr. Flint and her fellow researchers attempted to examine the connection between active commuting and two established markers for obesity: bmi (BMI) and body fat percentage. They reviewed 7,534 BMI measurements and 7,424 percentage excess fat measurements from men and women taking part in Understanding Society, a nationally representative UK study that collected the health information of 20,000 participants.
Of those individuals, 76 percent in men and 72 percent of women commuted to work through private motorized transportation, while 10 % in men and 11 percent of women said they used public transportation for example buses or trains and 14 % of men and 17 % of women walked or biked to work.
The general BMI score for male participants was 28, and the BMI score for women was 27, the authors said. Typically, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 indicates optimal weight. A BMI less than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight, a BMI of more than 25 could indicate that an individual is overweight and a number over 30 suggests the person is obese.
“Compared with using private transport, commuting by public and active modes significantly and independently predicted lower BMI and healthier body composition, for women and men,” the London School explained in a statement Wednesday.
“Men who commuted via public or active modes had BMI scores around 1 point lower than those who used private transport, equating to a improvement in weight of 3kg (almost half a stone) for the average man,” it added. “Women who commuted via public or active transport had BMI scores around 0.7 points lower than their private transport using counterparts, equating to a difference in weight of two.5kg (5.5lb) for that average woman.”
The findings for body fat percentage were similar in size and significance, and the researchers said the relationship remained even after they adjusted for potentially confounding factors for example age, disability, social class, monthly income, diet and workplace activity. They noted that the differences were bigger than those observed in most individually-focused diet and exercise related interventions to encourage weight reduction or prevent obesity.
Regardless of the size the study, however, Dr. Flint and her colleagues said that they can’t declare a causal relationship between the utilization of private, non-active transportation and weight. However, when they are convinced that additional research is required to read the cause-and-effect relationship, they do suggest taking into consideration the utilization of walking, cycling or public transport to travel to and from work as part of a broader health and anti-obesity strategy.
“Given that the majority of commuters in the united kingdom use private transport his or her main mode of travel, there are potentially large population-level health gains to be made by shifting to more active modes of commuting,” said Dr. Flint, who authored the research together with London School professor of population health Steven Cummins and UCL professor of lifecourse studies Amanda Sacker.
