"Cycling is an easy and low-impact activity which can significantly improve individual fitness and which has the potential to have a major impact
on public health.
It can help to reduce the risk of a range of health problems, notably heart disease and cancer, the leading preventable causes of
premature death.
In a country like the UK, where obesity is at epidemic levels among adults and young people, one of the main benefits of cycling is that people can do it as part of their normal daily activity – by cycling to work, to see friends or to the shops – rather than having to find additional time for exercise.
One study found that people who cycle to work experienced a 39% lower rate of all-cause mortality compared to those who did not – even after adjustment for other risk factors, including leisure time physical activity. Getting on your bike can yield much the same health benefits as doing a specific training programme. Cycling for an additional 30 minutes on most days of the week, combined with reducing calorie intake, can achieve weight loss comparable to that achieved by doing three aerobic classes a week.
As well as improving physical health, cycling has a positive affect on emotional health – improving levels of well-being, self-confidence and tolerance to stress while reducing tiredness, difficulties with sleep and a range of medical
symptoms.
One of the barriers to taking up cycling is a perception of the physical danger posed by motor traffic. However, the real risks are minimal and, the research suggests, are outweighed by the health benefits by a factor of around twenty to one. It may be more risky to your health to be sedentary.
It’s vital for the health of the nation – and the health of the planet – that health and transport professionals focus on positive actions to encourage cycling, especially where a cycle journey will replace a car journey.
Local transport and health authorities need to recognise the potential of cycling to improve many aspects of public health, and place it at the heart of a healthy transport strategy, devising safe cycling policies and promoting the use of cycling – by children and adults alike – on a daily basis."
http://www.networks.nhs.uk/uploads/07/11/cycling_and_health.pdf
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Palm
A busy few days at Carson Crescent recently.
I pulled a Valentine coup on Saturday night by springing a surprise overnight stay on Lorna, at the Cringletie House Hotel. One of my readers will remember this as the wedding night hotel. She knew nothing about where we were going, or that I had secured Gill and Gary's early evening babysitting as well as Muriel's overnight services. As we were heading through Penicuik she did fear the worst, a chip supper at the bus stop for old time's sake, but all was reveled and as the guy at the hotel began to explain about rooms and breakfast arrangements her surprise was worth all the backroom plotting. Yay.
Saturday also saw us off to Dundee to celebrate Nana's 90th - a family spectacular, and she even gave a speech thanking us all though included the sentiment, with a laugh, "I never wanted to live this long..."
And today we spent time with Mum and Don at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh feeding squirrels and looking for snowdrops. The squirrel feeding was not helped by squawking children running about wondering why the squirrels were hard to find...
I pulled a Valentine coup on Saturday night by springing a surprise overnight stay on Lorna, at the Cringletie House Hotel. One of my readers will remember this as the wedding night hotel. She knew nothing about where we were going, or that I had secured Gill and Gary's early evening babysitting as well as Muriel's overnight services. As we were heading through Penicuik she did fear the worst, a chip supper at the bus stop for old time's sake, but all was reveled and as the guy at the hotel began to explain about rooms and breakfast arrangements her surprise was worth all the backroom plotting. Yay.
Saturday also saw us off to Dundee to celebrate Nana's 90th - a family spectacular, and she even gave a speech thanking us all though included the sentiment, with a laugh, "I never wanted to live this long..."
And today we spent time with Mum and Don at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh feeding squirrels and looking for snowdrops. The squirrel feeding was not helped by squawking children running about wondering why the squirrels were hard to find...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 09, 2009
Highland Graffiti
Today I was All Man as before me child after child dissolved into tears at some personal crisis or another, some real and some imagined. See Exhibit A glaring at me in tears because she was unable to fold some paper. (18 others had successfully folded their paper but I was still an evil teacher for not folding hers for her.) And Exhibit B, crying as the rest of her group shouted at her for not pulling her weight. It was difficult to be truly sympathetic when I had deliberately put her in the group to be shouted at, to save me doing it. And it's only February, imagine the carnage by June.
On a brighter note we had proper snow today - thick, fluffy, cold and icy enough to leave two of my class with semi-permanent facial scars after only half an hour of snowball fighting. Cycling was actually very peaceful through the drifts. I think I saw 3 other bikes the whole day, and two of them were the same guy twice.
I went on a spending spree yesterday, within the boundaries of being a tightwad. I bought a few books - one by Sudhri Venkatesh, the Californian sociology student mentioned in Freakonomics. He spent a few years with the Black Kings, a gang who he discovered had a hierarchy and financial structure to rival any other big corporation. His book fleshes out the summary found in Freakonomics and is an easy and compelling read. In my head he sounds like Louis Theroux.
The accompanying picture was taken in Tain, the underpass from St Vincent Road under the bypass. Jon was impressed by its simple message of peace and its accurate punctuation.
On a brighter note we had proper snow today - thick, fluffy, cold and icy enough to leave two of my class with semi-permanent facial scars after only half an hour of snowball fighting. Cycling was actually very peaceful through the drifts. I think I saw 3 other bikes the whole day, and two of them were the same guy twice.
I went on a spending spree yesterday, within the boundaries of being a tightwad. I bought a few books - one by Sudhri Venkatesh, the Californian sociology student mentioned in Freakonomics. He spent a few years with the Black Kings, a gang who he discovered had a hierarchy and financial structure to rival any other big corporation. His book fleshes out the summary found in Freakonomics and is an easy and compelling read. In my head he sounds like Louis Theroux.
The accompanying picture was taken in Tain, the underpass from St Vincent Road under the bypass. Jon was impressed by its simple message of peace and its accurate punctuation.
Monday, February 02, 2009
RTA
So, that's February already and Britain grinds to a halt in the face of half an inch of snow. Well, London does. How does snow manage to disrupt the underground? Edinburgh too is suffering its share of transport woes but it's still the cyclists who are smug, if not snug, as all around roads are dug up and traffic is diverted so TIE can gives us trams.
The population of the household is going up steadily as more and more toys are named and played with, rather than just lung on to. Only yesterday Pudsey bear was put to bed by Kit due his sore eye, snuggled down and read a story. The guitar and piano are still favourite items, with his Brio train and Thomas TV game close behind.
Lorna spent a week in Hong Kong a while bak and we sent Kit for a holiday to Granny's house - a popular decision all round. This gave me the splendid opportunity to relive my bachelor days for five exciting nights, just long enough to remember that I don't miss my bachelor days at all. It turns out that without my family I would be just another fat alcoholic...like, even more.
It did give me the opportunity to catch up with Jon in Tain for a night, an unlikely but welcome opportunity. Beer, whisky, cigars and putting the world to rights. Same old same old, thank God.
The population of the household is going up steadily as more and more toys are named and played with, rather than just lung on to. Only yesterday Pudsey bear was put to bed by Kit due his sore eye, snuggled down and read a story. The guitar and piano are still favourite items, with his Brio train and Thomas TV game close behind.
Lorna spent a week in Hong Kong a while bak and we sent Kit for a holiday to Granny's house - a popular decision all round. This gave me the splendid opportunity to relive my bachelor days for five exciting nights, just long enough to remember that I don't miss my bachelor days at all. It turns out that without my family I would be just another fat alcoholic...like, even more.
It did give me the opportunity to catch up with Jon in Tain for a night, an unlikely but welcome opportunity. Beer, whisky, cigars and putting the world to rights. Same old same old, thank God.
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