TY - JOUR

T1 - Transport mode choice and body mass index

T2 - Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from a European-wide study

AU - Dons, Evi

AU - Rojas-Rueda, David

AU - Anaya-Boig, Esther

AU - Avila-Palencia, Ione

AU - Brand, Christian

AU - Cole-Hunter, Tom

AU - de Nazelle, Audrey

AU - Eriksson, Ulf

AU - Gaupp-Berghausen, Mailin

AU - Gerike, Regine

AU - Kahlmeier, Sonja

AU - Laeremans, Michelle

AU - Mueller, Natalie

AU - Nawrot, Tim

AU - Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J.

AU - Orjuela, Juan Pablo

AU - Racioppi, Francesca

AU - Raser, Elisabeth

AU - Standaert, Arnout

AU - Int Panis, Luc

AU - Götschi, Thomas

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the European project Physical Activity through Sustainable Transportation Approaches ( PASTA ). PASTA ( http://www.pastaproject.eu /) was a four-year project funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (EU FP7) under European Commission - Grant Agreement No. 602624 . Evi Dons is supported by a postdoctoral scholarship from FWO Research Foundation Flanders. Michelle Laeremans holds a joint PASTA/VITO PhD scholarship. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2018/10

Y1 - 2018/10

N2 - Background: In the fight against rising overweight and obesity levels, and unhealthy urban environments, the renaissance of active mobility (cycling and walking as a transport mode) is encouraging. Transport mode has been shown to be associated to body mass index (BMI), yet there is limited longitudinal evidence demonstrating causality. We aimed to associate transport mode and BMI cross-sectionally, but also prospectively in the first ever European-wide longitudinal study on transport and health. Methods: Data were from the PASTA project that recruited adults in seven European cities (Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Oerebro, Rome, Vienna, Zurich) to complete a series of questionnaires on travel behavior, physical activity levels, and BMI. To assess the association between transport mode and BMI as well as change in BMI we performed crude and adjusted linear mixed-effects modeling for cross-sectional (n = 7380) and longitudinal (n = 2316) data, respectively. Results: Cross-sectionally, BMI was 0.027 kg/m2 (95%CI 0.015 to 0.040) higher per additional day of car use per month. Inversely, BMI was −0.010 kg/m2 (95%CI −0.020 to −0.0002) lower per additional day of cycling per month. Changes in BMI were smaller in the longitudinal within-person assessment, however still statistically significant. BMI decreased in occasional (less than once per week) and non-cyclists who increased cycling (−0.303 kg/m2, 95%CI −0.530 to −0.077), while frequent (at least once per week) cyclists who stopped cycling increased their BMI (0.417 kg/m2, 95%CI 0.033 to 0.802). Conclusions: Our analyses showed that people lower their BMI when starting or increasing cycling, demonstrating the health benefits of active mobility.

AB - Background: In the fight against rising overweight and obesity levels, and unhealthy urban environments, the renaissance of active mobility (cycling and walking as a transport mode) is encouraging. Transport mode has been shown to be associated to body mass index (BMI), yet there is limited longitudinal evidence demonstrating causality. We aimed to associate transport mode and BMI cross-sectionally, but also prospectively in the first ever European-wide longitudinal study on transport and health. Methods: Data were from the PASTA project that recruited adults in seven European cities (Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Oerebro, Rome, Vienna, Zurich) to complete a series of questionnaires on travel behavior, physical activity levels, and BMI. To assess the association between transport mode and BMI as well as change in BMI we performed crude and adjusted linear mixed-effects modeling for cross-sectional (n = 7380) and longitudinal (n = 2316) data, respectively. Results: Cross-sectionally, BMI was 0.027 kg/m2 (95%CI 0.015 to 0.040) higher per additional day of car use per month. Inversely, BMI was −0.010 kg/m2 (95%CI −0.020 to −0.0002) lower per additional day of cycling per month. Changes in BMI were smaller in the longitudinal within-person assessment, however still statistically significant. BMI decreased in occasional (less than once per week) and non-cyclists who increased cycling (−0.303 kg/m2, 95%CI −0.530 to −0.077), while frequent (at least once per week) cyclists who stopped cycling increased their BMI (0.417 kg/m2, 95%CI 0.033 to 0.802). Conclusions: Our analyses showed that people lower their BMI when starting or increasing cycling, demonstrating the health benefits of active mobility.

KW - Active mobility

KW - BMI

KW - Body mass index

KW - Cycling

KW - Physical activity

KW - Walking

U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2018.06.023

DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2018.06.023

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29957352

AN - SCOPUS:85048881425

VL - 119

SP - 109

EP - 116

JO - Environment international

JF - Environment international

SN - 0160-4120

ER -