Active travel must have a major role in tackling obesity
The Department of Health last week published its call to action on obesity: not a moment too soon! The Department acknowledges that “England, along with the rest of the UK, ranks as one of the most obese nations in Europe. 61.3% of adults are overweight or obese. For children, 23.1% of 4–5-year-olds are overweight or obese, and 33.3% of 10–11-year-olds.”
How did this happen? We are eating more, and our diet has become less healthy, but physical activity is also central to the problem. The call to action is part of a programme of recommendations and guidance, all of which call for more walking and cycling as part of the fight against obesity.
For example the recommendations on physical activity from the four Chief Medical Officers of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales make clear that “for most people, the easiest and most acceptable forms of physical activity are those that can be incorporated into everyday life. Examples include walking or cycling instead of travelling by car, bus or train”.
It is therefore critically important that transport policy and investment plans should have clear health promotion objectives to make walking and cycling safer, easier and more appealing options for everyday travel.
The call to action on obesity highlights the success of a Sustrans project in Worcester, which has provided a new traffic-free crossing of the River Severn, alongside new walking and cycling routes into the heart of local communities. In its first eight months, the new bridge carried 125,000 healthy journeys.
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