VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Apr 13, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Canadian
researchers say users of public transit are three times more likely than others
to be fit and as a result may not have to use the gym.
The study, published in the Journal of Public Health Policy, find users of
public transportation more likely to meet the recommended 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity a day, five days a week that Canada's Heart and Stroke
Foundation recommends.
Travel surveys from metropolitan Atlanta -- 4,156 in number -- were used to
determine transit and car trips. The researchers say people who drove the most
were the least likely to meet the recommended level of physical activity.
"The idea of needing to go to the gym to get your daily dose of exercise is a
misperception," study researcher Frank Lawrence of the University of British
Columbia says in a statement. "These short walks throughout our day are
historically how we have gotten our activity. Unfortunately, we've engineered
this activity out of our daily lives."
Frank says promoting transit incentives -- such as employer-sponsored passes or
discount fares -- would be much easier than restructuring existing
neighborhoods."
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