Ten thousand steps and more. Can cycle dealers compete with pharmacists? A new French study proves that the little queen is a very effective drug to prevent chronic diseases and reduce premature mortality, with significant savings for health insurance and the community.
And, in our country where cycling culture is still relatively weak, a 25% modal shift of short journeys of less than five kilometers from car to bicycle would be enough to almost double the benefits, according to work compiled by Kevin Jean, lecturer in epidemiology at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. and economist Philippe Quirian, director of research at CNRS. Article, Journal in Press Lancet Regional Health EuropeAlready available in preprint.
A few months ago, these researchers showed that the modest development of two active modes of transport, cycling and walking, could prevent 10,000 premature deaths per year in France and save 34 billion euros from 2045.
This time, they estimated how much cycling can contribute to promoting health in countries where its practice is limited (the proportion of journeys made by bicycle is less than 3%, while it is more than 15% in Denmark and the Netherlands). To do this, they started with the 2019 “People’s Mobility” survey, the latest edition of this ten-year INSEE study conducted among 14,000 people.
That year, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the average distance traveled by bike per day among adults aged 20 to 89 was 0.32 kilometres, the average time spent on the machine. 1 minute and 17 seconds, with large differences based on age groups and gender. Important details: At all ages, the proportion of female cyclists was significantly lower. Furthermore, in 2019, electric bikes covered only 6% of the kilometers traveled.
Health benefits
Based on these simple practices, the team calculated that nearly 2,000 premature deaths were avoided that year, and as many as 6,000 chronic diseases. In total, five pathologies (breast and colon cancer, dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases), for which there is a very strong link with physical activity, were considered.
The most frequently avoided chronic disease was type 2 diabetes (3,743 cases), followed by cardiovascular pathology (1,578 cases). “These health benefits may be underestimated, because we could not include pathologies such as depression, where the benefits of physical activity are also proven”Kevin underlines Jean.
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