> Active Transportation Leads to Lower Rate of Obesity

Active Transportation Leads to Lower Rate of Obesity

25 Jan 2009

by: Gerard Bridi

A recent study, conducted by the UT Obesity Research Center shows that countries where active transportation is prevalent tend to have lower rates of obesity. Active transportation is defined as walking, bicycling, and using public transportation.

Americans, with the highest rate of obesity, were the least likely to walk, cycle or take public transportation. Only 12% use active transportation in the U.S. (9% walk, 1% ride a bike, and 2% take a bus or a train to go to work)—while a quarter or a third are obese, the study noted.

While the analysis does not prove that active transportation keeps obesity levels down, they make an excellent case, said Susan Hardy who heads the Sustainable Transportation Center at UC Davis.

Ann Lusk, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health said, “ What I found the most exciting is its applicability. The issue becomes: how do we improve our transit, walking and bicycling opportunities simultaneously or should we focus on one of the three?”

While, this study and the comments are exactly what we at Accor Services, are focusing our efforts on. We have taken various initiatives at the employer level to increase the awareness of the benefits of public transportation as well as the benefits of bicycling benefits. We have created a program to encourage employees to take advantage of tax benefits, and we are seeing very positive results that we will be able to provide in the next few months.