Manifesto - La salute nelle città: bene comune

Sustainable Mobility and Well-Being

There are several reasons to change the way you move in the city: economical, environmental, and mostly, reasons related to health. both walking and riding a bike are the most suitable activities for a sustainable and healthy mobility, mostly if the way is short, which happens nearly 50% of the times in a day.

<p> </p><div id="jquery-ui-filter" class="jquery-ui-filter jquery-ui-filter-accordion"><h3 class="jquery-ui-filter-header jquery-ui-filter-accordion-header">Walking</h3><div class="jquery-ui-filter-container jquery-ui-filter-accordion-container"><p>It should be a regular mobility choice: it's free, and helps. us improving our health. Our body is structured to walk up to 30km per day. Today we only walk 1. On average a pedestrian moves at a speed of 4km / h. If we take into account the fact that about 50% of the trips we make are those called proximity mobility, the choice to take a nice walk to get to the workplace turns out to be the best.</p><p>Walking is nevertheless more and more a conscious choice even for longer journeys up to even travel. It is simpler and less tiring than what you think and allows you to get in touch both with the environment and the space you want to live, and with your body.</p><p>Unfortunately, only one Italian out of 10 chooses this mean of transport to reach his workplace -according to the ISTAT data- Studies that certify how walking is a fundamental behavior for the protection of individual and public health are multiplying. It is good for the circulatory cardio system, it reduces stress and anxiety. </p><p>Health policies are becoming increasingly important for city management and the design of goods and services. Mobility is a key element to promote them. The Health City Institute has produced the <strong>'Passport for Walking in Rome'</strong> an introduction to Fitwalking on the city streets with dozens of routes to do and walk and enjoy the city and its riches.</p><p>There are typically urban and tourist itineraries dedicated to the visit on foot of historical centers or specific areas of the city and routes that involve the wider city territory, like the naturalistic and environmental proposals, up to the most decidedly sporty routes. All this with an eye to health, which finds the path of primary prevention and low cost for diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. You can download it in the attachment section of the page.</p><p>A good way to take the<strong> 'path'</strong> and change the way you move around the city.</p></div></div><div id="jquery-ui-filter--2" class="jquery-ui-filter jquery-ui-filter-accordion"><h3 class="jquery-ui-filter-header jquery-ui-filter-accordion-header">Wellness by bike</h3><div class="jquery-ui-filter-container jquery-ui-filter-accordion-container"><p>The benefits of riding a bicycle instead of using the car are visible on health and outweigh the 20-fold safety risks. The European Cycling Federaton has gathered on one page the conclusions of some scientific studies on the well-being connected to the movement modalities, especially in the working home stretch. Here is the translation.</p><h2>Live longer and healthier</h2><ul><li>Who uses the bicycle lives on average 2 years longer than those who do not pedal and take 15% less sick days.</li><li>An adult who regularly uses the bicycle will have a level of physical fitness equal to that of a person 10 years younger.</li></ul><p>source: Tuxworth, B. 1986, Quality control. Sport and Leisure, 1986 Vol. 27 No. 3 pp. 32-33</p><h2>Better fitness: less weight, less stress and sleep disorders</h2><p>Countries with higher rates of bicycle use and walking movements generally have lower obesity rates.</p><p>Flint's research and in 2014 found that the more 'active' movement patterns at work lead to a lowering of the body mass index and a more healthy distribution of body mass components in both men and adult women.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2056">Source</a>: Flint ea 2014 Associations between active commuting, body fat, and body mass index: population based, cross sectional study in the United Kingdom BMJ 2014;349:g4887 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g4887 (Published 19 August 2014).</em></p><p>Anche Mytton e a, in 2016 looked for associations between active 'commuting' and 'body mass index', finding that those who used the bicycle to go to the office for over a year register a lower body mass index than those who have never cycled to go to the office and the effect is even more evident for overweight people. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27311338">source</a></p><p>Pedaling has an effect on psychophysical health, improving levels of well-being, self-confidence and stress tolerance, while reducing fatigue, sleep disturbances and a range of various other symptoms.</p><p><em>source: Boyd, H., Hillman, M., Nevill, A., Pearce, A. and Tuxworth, B. (1998). Health-related effects of regular cycling on a sample of previous non-exercisers, Resume of main findings.</em></p><h2>More individual and public health</h2><p> </p><p>Walking grants benefits to people. Many studies confirm that the greatest positive impact on public health is obtained raising the bike use ratings, favouring walking as a positive habit for people who don't tend to ride a bike.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25344355">Source</a> Kelly P et al. "Systematic review and meta-analysis of reduction in all-cause mortality from walking and cycling and shape of dose response relationship."</em></p><p>Ekelund e a 2015, states in the <a href="http://epic.iarc.fr/">EPIC study</a>, that observing all the causes of mortality in relation to all types of physical activity comes to the same conclusions: even small increases in activity in inactive individuals produce an overall benefit in public health.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25733647">source</a>: Ulf Ekelund, Heather A Ward, Teresa Norat, Jian’an Luan, Anne M May, Elisabete Weiderpass, Stephen S Sharp, ea… Physical activity and all-cause mortality across levels of overall and abdominal adiposity in European men and women: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study (EPIC). Am J Clin Nutr First published ahead of print January 14, 2015 as doi: 10.3945/ajcn.114.100065.</em></p><h2>An antidote to the detriment of environmental pollution</h2><p>In 2011 Rojac-Rueda et al. they examined the health risks and the benefits of cycling in an urban environment, comparing them to the use of the car and in particular they have organized the Barcelona bike sharing system. They found that the benefits for the health of physical activity were many compared to the risks arising from pollutants and road accidents.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25498121">source</a>: Rojac-Rueda, D et al „The health risks and benefits of cycling in urban environments compared with car use: health impact assessment study“ BMJ 2011; 343: d4521 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d452 </em></p><p>Tainio and al. to 2016 have answered the question that is often asked: Can air pollutants frustrate the benefits of walking and riding a bicycle? And the answer is a resounding No until you pedal for more than 5 hours in some of the most polluted cities the world. They also noted that the health benefits are greater than the risks due to air pollution for the first hour of pedaling a day <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27156248">source</a>.</p><p>Translation adapted from the <a href="http://https://ecf.com/resources/cycling-facts-and-figures/health">European Cycling Federation</a></p></div></div>