The Australian Bicycle Council, a subsidiary of the Australian Government's Department of Transport, stated in its March 2004 communique:
Bicycling is part of the solution to many of our cities problems: the obesity epidemic, traffic congestion, air pollution and more. The mainstream health message these days is that people need to do at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days, to maintain health. Increased incidental exercise (ie exercise that is built into 'activities of daily living') is often recommended as the best way to ensure adequate daily levels of exercise are achieved. This is because this kind of exercise is often 'maintained' (ie kept up) more consistently than, for example going to the gym or playing sport. Walking and cycling to work are two good forms of incidental exercise - no surprise there!
Consider the views of New Zealand Public Health Physician Dr Ashley Bloomfield, who presented "Cycling: your health, the public's health and the planet's health" (PDF file 24kb) to the New Zealand Cycling Symposium in 2000.
All research papers at least partly blame an increasingly sedentary lifestyle for Australia's obesity levels, which are among the highest in the world. Greater public recreational exercise is encouraged to stem a looming public health crisis.
Surveys show only about half of all men and women in Western Australia undertake the recommended levels of physical exercise.
Health experts say adults should undertake 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week. Cycling is classified as a moderate-intensity activity.
Read the Dublin Cycling Campaign Submission to The National Task Force on Obesity.
A Danish study has found that people who do not cycle to work suffer a 39% higher mortality rate than those who do.
The 2003 UK Cycling and Health report (PDF file, 240kb) details the major personal and public health benefits that are possible when people ride a bicycle instead of driving a car.
Read the response of CTC - the UK's national cycling organisation - in May 2004 to a new report from MPs that says cycling is the way to beat obesity (Word file, 64k).
Cycling Promotion for Health and Fitness (RTF file, 536kb) studies the health problems suffered by the residents of Perth, Western Australia, because of the city's low cycling levels and high car dependency.
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