The time you spend each day driving to work or getting stuck in heavy traffic may impact not only the size of your waist and your body weight but also your likelihood to develop heart problems.
In a study featured in the journal Preventive Medicine, researchers from the Institute of Health and Ageing at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) discovered that people who spend an hour or more of their day driving their vehicles are on average 2.3 kilograms (5.07 pounds) heavier compared to those who only spend 15 minutes or less in their cars.
These individuals have also been found to have waists 1.5 centimeters (about 0.6 inch) wider than those of individuals who drive their cars for only short periods of time.
This finding is important as 80 percent of people living in Australia spend about an hour driving their cars to and from their jobs every day. An estimated 20 percent of Australians even spend as long as 90 minutes or more in their vehicles.
The researchers based their work on an analysis of the health status and driving habits of more than 2,000 adult Australians between 34 to 65 years old. The team took into consideration the participants' diet, level of physical activity, consumption of alcohol and even various socio-economic factors.
Prof. Takemi Sugiyama, leader of the research team, explained that while previous studies have shown the impact of spending time watching television on human health, there have yet to be one that showed the health effects of spending too much time driving or riding vehicles.
Some studies tried to establish a connection between car commuters and their likelihood to develop obesity, but much of the information presented was dependent on self-reporting.
For their work, Sugiyama and his colleagues made use of data collected through a program known as the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study. These allowed the researchers to properly assess the health of individuals in relation to their driving habits.
Driving Cars versus Using Public Transport
Some people are advocating for commuters to avoid using their cars completely and instead use a bicycle or public transport in order for them to get to work.
Sugiyama pointed out that using public transport is significantly different compared to driving since it doesn't necessarily involved just sitting inside a vehicle. He said that sometimes it may also involve having to walk to and from public transport stops.
However, a large number of people don't have the option to walk, ride a bicycle or even take public transport to get to work every day.
Sugiyama said the expansion of cities because of the growth of their populations could make travel a lot longer. This could add to the need of people to use their own cars, which in turn could lead to more health problems.
Sugiyama called for the creation of better infrastructure initiatives to help improve the health of these people.
