Cycling to work is good for a person’s health and good for the environment, say doctors.

Cycling to work is good for a person’s health and good for the environment, say doctors.
Photo Credit: Gaye Jackson

Tool kit helps Canadian doctors promote active travel

Doctors should encourage their patients to use active modes of transportation and an advocacy group has made that easier. The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment has provided a tool kit for health professionals with advice on how to sell the idea, and it will soon send members out to explain and sell the idea.

Studies show that people who use public transportation usually walk at the beginning and end of their trip.
Studies show that people who use public transportation usually walk at the beginning and end of their trip. © Gaye Jackson

‘We get so many wins’

There are great benefits to having people walk or cycle to work or use public transit, says the association’s Kim Perrotta. “If we can get people to use active modes of transportation and public transit, we can increase their health, we can reduce air pollution, we can reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change… We get so many wins.”

Listen
The easiest way for people to get active is to do it on the way to work.
The easiest way for people to get active is to do it on the way to work. © Gaye Jackson

‘The number one treatment for chronic disease’

“Physical activity is kind of the number one treatment for chronic disease. I think many doctors would say that if they could get their patients to do one thing to reduce their risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, it would be to be more physically active,” she adds.

“And studies have shown us that one of the most effective ways to do that is to get people to actually walk to work, to cycle to work, that’s one of the easiest ways to get people to get the levels of physical activity that they need.”
column-banner-lynn

Categories: Environment & Animal Life, Health, Society
Tags: , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.