Biking to work reduces the odds of dying from cancer by 51%! You’d think transit planners would find the hell out of bike lanes given how much money that saves to public and the government. Even “fiscal conservatives” can’t debunk the obvious societal good and savings from that.
Fund bike lanes!
Fund bike lanes!
Reposted from
Brent Toderian
“The long-term health benefits didn’t stop there: commuter cycling was also linked to a 24% reduced risk of cardiovascular hospitalizations, a 51% lower risk of dying from cancer, and improved mental health, as measured by fewer prescriptions for anxiety and depression.” Via @momentummag.bsky.social
Comments
But at the same time, if we accept the premise that there is a well-established causality for obesity and some common cancers, and that active commuting is preventive for obesity, it'd be surprising for there to be no causal link at all.
But there are confounding factors in that healthier people (and more broadly, those with more agency - as a result of wealth, education, other privilege) are more able to resist the pressures towards obesity and other unhealthy behaviours.
Robustly teasing out cause & effect is tricky.
I'd wager that active commuters have much lower rates of smoking than the general population, for example. To what extent this relationship is causal, though, is perhaps more a matter for philosophers than medics or statisticians.
I'm not saying you can't conclude anything from it, but causation is a *very* high bar to clear and observational studies have lots of limitations.
Still painfully difficult to control for age, income, health system differences and all the other demographic factors though.
I didn't say that they could do it truthfully.
“less cancer, a happier life, and more money for education and healthcare is bad” said nobody
The benefits of bike lanes pay off!
Check this study out. We can use the obvious societal benefits to push for more bike lane funding!
Farmers, landlords, etc…
Thanks for finding this and sharing it with me! 📌