How the car and public transport affect a person’s weight
It is unlikely that this news is unexpected for anyone, however, from the results of a new study conducted by American scientists, it was found that people who choose the active way to get to work /biking or walking/ have a lower body mass and less fat deposits than those who go to work with their personal car.
But data from the same study also found that people who commute to work by public transport also have a weight advantage over car drivers, which was definitely a surprise.
Results from previous research have also shown that active ways to get to work lower the risk of obesity. However, they were based on polls that are known to have a high probability of compromising the final results.
The objective measurements of body mass index and body fat content of the participants were used in the present study. Both indicators are generally accepted markers of obesity.
The results of this study may have implications for public transportation policy in the United States. Currently, about 86% of US workers commute to work in their personal cars.
In Bulgaria, the situation in large cities such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse and Stara Zagora is not much different, but due to the fact that a large part of private cars are over 5 years old, a huge problem is created with air quality in cities, and specifically poor air quality in cities, is pointed to as one of the main reasons for the increase in the incidence of asthma in children who live in urban settings.
Obesity is one of the most serious public health problems in the United States.
More than 1 in 3 Americans are obese. Many of the leading causes of death, including cardiovascular, are due to obesity.
In Bulgaria, the data on obesity among the population are not as startling as in the USA, in our country “only” 20% of the population is overweight, which puts us in the middle of the ranking for this indicator among the countries of the European Union.< /p>
It should be noted that a distinction must be made between overweight and obesity. Overweight is defined when the body mass index is over 25, and metabolic syndrome over 30.
Scientists analyzed data on the body mass index of 7,534 people and data on measured fat deposits in 7,424 people of both sexes.
Among the research participants, the following ways of getting to work were registered:
• Private transport – 76% men and 72% women;
• Public transport – 10% of men and 11% of women;
• Walking or cycling – 14% of men and 17% ;
Scientists found that indicators of body mass index and percentage of fat in active participants, that is – walked or cycled to work, as well as in those who used public transport, were close to normal, in contrast to those who took participation in the study, who traveled by car to work.
Approximately the same results were obtained when examining the percentage of fat in the body. This relationship was preserved, even after excluding the factors of age, physical activity at the workplace and the presence of certain diseases.
