Cycling to work could help you live longer and greatly reduces the chance of developing cancer, study reveals – Telegraph.co.uk

Dr Jason Gill, from the institute of cardiovascular and medical sciences at Glasgow University, said the government must do more to make cycling safer and more popular.

“Cycling all or part of the way to work was associated with substantially lower risk of adverse health outcomes.  

“If these associations are causal, these findings suggest that policies designed to make it easier for people to commute by bike, such as cycle lanes, city bike hire, subsidised cycle purchase schemes and increasing provision for cycles on public transport may present major opportunities for public health improvement.”

Walking to work was also found to be good for health, although it does not offer the same benefits as taking a bike. Commuting on food was associated with a 27 per cent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 36 per cent lower risk of dying from it. Overall walking to work lowered the risk of early death by 27 per cent.

But there was no link with a lower risk of cancer or dying early from any cause in walkers, the study found.

People who preferred to stroll to work also had to walk for two hours a week in total to see health benefits, at an average speed of three miles per hour.