Active travel may have positive effects on health outcomes , but there is little robust evidence to date of the effectiveness of active transport interventions for reducing obesity .
BACKGROUND Increasing active travel ( primarily walking and cycling ) has been widely advocated for reducing obesity levels and achieving other population health benefits .
However , the strength of evidence underpinning this strategy is unclear .
This study aim ed to assess the evidence that active travel has significant health benefits .
Low physical activity as a predictor for antihypertensive drug treatment in 25-64-year-old populations in Eastern and south-western Finland
Objective To determine whether low leisure-time physical activity , occupational physical activity and commuting activity independently increase the risk of hypertension when adjusted for most risk factors for hypertension and for different forms of physical activity . Design Population -based prospect i ve cohort study . Setting Eastern and south-western Finl and . Participants Men ( n = 5935 ) and women ( n = 6227 ) aged 25 - 64 years . Main outcome measure Initiation of free-of-charge medication for hypertension during a mean follow-up time of 11.3 years . Results Men with high  leisure-time physical activity had a reduced risk of hypertension when adjustment had been made for age , area and year of survey , education , smoking , alcohol intake , baseline systolic blood pressure ( SBP ) , body mass index ( BMI ) , commuting activity and occupational physical activity [ hazard ratio ( HR ) 0.79 ; 95 % confidence interval ( CI ) 0.63 to 0.99 ] . Women with high leisure-time physical activity had a reduced risk of hypertension when adjusted for age , area and time of survey ( HR 0.65 ; 95 % CI 0.46 to 0.91 ) . This association was no longer significant when further adjustments were made for other covariates ( HR 0.73 ; 95 % CI 0.52 to 1.03 ) . High  occupational physical activity  reduced the risk of hypertension only among men and women combined when adjustment was made for age , area and time of survey , education , smoking and alcohol intake , in addition to baseline SBP , BMI , commuting activity and leisure-time physical activity ( HR 0.83 ; 95 % CI 0.72 to 0.96 ) . Commuting activity was not associated with risk of hypertension in multivariate models . Conclusion High levels of leisure-time physical activity are associated with a reduced risk of hypertension , independently of most common risk factors for hypertension , occupational physical activity and commuting activity . Promoting leisure-time physical activity is essential to prevent hypertension
Active travel may have positive effects on health outcomes , but there is little robust evidence to date of the effectiveness of active transport interventions for reducing obesity .
BACKGROUND Increasing active travel ( primarily walking and cycling ) has been widely advocated for reducing obesity levels and achieving other population health benefits .
However , the strength of evidence underpinning this strategy is unclear .
This study aim ed to assess the evidence that active travel has significant health benefits .