Cycling as a Part of Daily Life: A Review of Health Perspectives

• Autor(a) principal: Gotschi, Thomas
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Garrard, Jan, Giles-Corti, Billie
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/22974

Health aspects of day-to-day cycling have gained attention from the health sectoraiming to increase levels of physical activity, and from the transport and planning sector, tojustify investments in cycling. We review and discuss the main pathways between cycling andhealth under two perspectives — generalizable epidemiological evidence for health effects and specificimpact modeling to quantify health impacts in concrete settings. Substantial benefits from physicalactivity dominate the public health impacts of cycling. Epidemiological evidence is strong and impactmodeling is well advanced. Injuries amount to a smaller impact on the population level, but affectcrash victims disproportionately and perceived risks deter potential cyclists. Basic data on crashrisks are available, but evidence on determinants of risks is limited and impact models are highlydependent on local factors. Risks from air pollution can be assumed to be small, with limited evidencefor cycling-specific mechanisms. Based on a large body of evidence, planners, health professionals,and decision-makers can rest assured that benefits from cycling-related physical activity are worthpursuing. Safety improvements should be part of the efforts to promote cycling, both to minimizenegative impacts and to lower barriers to cycling for potential riders.