Predictors of change in walking and cycling to work and its impact on body mass index: evidence from the British household panel survey
Adam Martin (CEDAR)
11.45, Tuesday 9 July. Millennium Lounge, level 5
Background
Population health might be improved if working-age commuters switched to walking or cycling as their primary method of travel, but few longitudinal studies assess predictors of these changes or the likely causal impact on BMI.
Methods
This study explored individual-level data on commuting (travel time and travel mode) and self-reported socioeconomic, neighbourhood, health and lifestyle characteristics collected in 18 waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a multi-purpose survey that follows the same individuals over multiple time periods between 1991 and 2008.
Results
Using data on individuals from all waves of the BHPS, moving house and changing jobs were predictors of change in commuting travel mode. Using BMI data collected on 4,164 car, bus or train commuters in 2004 that were followed up in 2006, the most adjusted models indicate that reductions in time spent driving, and switching to walking or cycling, had a statistically significant negative impact on BMI.
Conclusion
The present paper suggests that switching to active travel modes and reductions in time spent driving could help reduce obesity.
Population health might be improved if working-age commuters switched to walking or cycling as their primary method of travel, but few longitudinal studies assess predictors of these changes or the likely causal impact on BMI.
Methods
This study explored individual-level data on commuting (travel time and travel mode) and self-reported socioeconomic, neighbourhood, health and lifestyle characteristics collected in 18 waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a multi-purpose survey that follows the same individuals over multiple time periods between 1991 and 2008.
Results
Using data on individuals from all waves of the BHPS, moving house and changing jobs were predictors of change in commuting travel mode. Using BMI data collected on 4,164 car, bus or train commuters in 2004 that were followed up in 2006, the most adjusted models indicate that reductions in time spent driving, and switching to walking or cycling, had a statistically significant negative impact on BMI.
Conclusion
The present paper suggests that switching to active travel modes and reductions in time spent driving could help reduce obesity.