A large long-term study published in BMJ Public Health finds that commuters who cycle or walk to work or school have lower risks of poor mental and physical health than those who don’t, with cyclists having the most benefit of 47% lower risk of death from any cause.

Active commuting, including walking and cycling, is practical and sustainable for increasing daily physical activity, with substantial health benefits.

For their study, researchers used data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, which includes 5% of the Scottish population from Census returns in 1991, 2001, and 2011. The analysis focused on 82,297 individuals between the ages 16-74 who commuted to work or school in 2001.

Respondents indicated their primary mode of travel for commuting. Active travel was defined as walking or cycling, while all other methods were considered inactive. The data were linked to national hospital admissions, deaths, and prescriptions for mental health issues from 2001 to 2018.

Between 2001 and 2018, 4,276 participants (5%) died, nearly half from cancer. Additionally, 52,804 (64%) were admitted to the hospital, with 9,663 (12%) for cardiovascular disease and 5,939 (7%) for cancer. About 38.5% were prescribed drugs for cardiovascular disease, and 41% were prescribed mental health medications.

The found that active commuting was associated with lower risks of death and poor mental and physical health. Cycling reduced the risk of death by 47%, any hospital admission by 10%, and cardiovascular disease admission by 24%. It also lowered the risk of being prescribed cardiovascular drugs by 30%, dying from cancer by 51%, and being prescribed mental health drugs by 20%. However, cyclists faced twice the risk of hospital admission due to road traffic collisions.

Walking was linked to an 11% lower risk of any hospital admission and a 10% lower risk of cardiovascular admission. It also reduced the risk of being prescribed cardiovascular drugs by 10% and mental health drugs by 7%.

The study highlights the important of physical activity in our daily life and taking the daily commute as an opportunity to get our activity in. The study also highlights the importance of policies to keep the roads safe for bicyclers.

Next time you’re going somewhere, try walking or riding a bicycle instead (of course wear a helmet when you’re riding).

C Friel et al. Health benefits of pedestrian and cyclist commuting: evidence from the Scottish Longitudinal Study. BMJ Public Health (2024). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2024-001295