Cycling is a healthy activity not just for our bodies, but a healthy activity for other factors as well. This article will discuss why cycling is also healthy for our children, our social justice system, our economy and our environment.
Children tend to follow their parents lifestyles. If a child is brought up in a household with parents that regularly exercise, chances are that the child will grow into the same habits. Sadly child obesity is a growing issue in the U.S. largely in part to the inactive lifestyles of their parents along with a poor diet of preprocessed foods. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. and it is proven that the benefits from cycling outweigh the risk by 20 to 1. Health issues related to an inactive lifestyle are significantly lower in other countries where people ride bikes regularly.
More and more cities throughout the U.S. are starting projects to promote the use of cycling such as building bike lanes into city streets. By doing this the cities will see many benefits in the coming years. Traffic flows are improved as more cyclists use bikes to commute is one example. Following the concept from other countries, a few cities are starting community bike terminals. Bike terminals are located throughout a city and one simply takes a bike from one terminal and drops it off at another terminal near their destination.
Cycling as a means of transportation for running errands around town is an extremely effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Individuals will also be greatly reducing the money spent on fuel. Americans rely on an automobile for short trips of less than 7 miles 50% of the time that they drive. If a bicycle were to be used for just half of these trips the reduction in pollution would be tremendous.
A person in good physical shape is good for the economy. Physically fit people are less likely to have illness that prevents them from going to work and this equates to higher productivity with less medical care expense. A Danish study shows that for every one dollar spent on a cycling infrastructure that promotes the use of cycling, ten dollars are saved by reducing health care costs and the related expenses incurred due to loss productivity.
Cycling in some countries is conducted daily by a large percentage of its citizens for general commuting. In France it is not uncommon for a household to own 4 to 5 bicycles. In Denmark over 50% of the population rides a bicycle at least once per week. In South Korea a major city pays its citizens about $30 per month if they ride a bicycle for commuting to work at least 15 times per month. These countries have known for years that cycling is a healthy activity for many things other than individual fitness. It is for these reasons that even non-cyclists should support any initiative in their communities that will promote the use of bicycles.
Children tend to follow their parents lifestyles. If a child is brought up in a household with parents that regularly exercise, chances are that the child will grow into the same habits. Sadly child obesity is a growing issue in the U.S. largely in part to the inactive lifestyles of their parents along with a poor diet of preprocessed foods. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. and it is proven that the benefits from cycling outweigh the risk by 20 to 1. Health issues related to an inactive lifestyle are significantly lower in other countries where people ride bikes regularly.
More and more cities throughout the U.S. are starting projects to promote the use of cycling such as building bike lanes into city streets. By doing this the cities will see many benefits in the coming years. Traffic flows are improved as more cyclists use bikes to commute is one example. Following the concept from other countries, a few cities are starting community bike terminals. Bike terminals are located throughout a city and one simply takes a bike from one terminal and drops it off at another terminal near their destination.
Cycling as a means of transportation for running errands around town is an extremely effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Individuals will also be greatly reducing the money spent on fuel. Americans rely on an automobile for short trips of less than 7 miles 50% of the time that they drive. If a bicycle were to be used for just half of these trips the reduction in pollution would be tremendous.
A person in good physical shape is good for the economy. Physically fit people are less likely to have illness that prevents them from going to work and this equates to higher productivity with less medical care expense. A Danish study shows that for every one dollar spent on a cycling infrastructure that promotes the use of cycling, ten dollars are saved by reducing health care costs and the related expenses incurred due to loss productivity.
Cycling in some countries is conducted daily by a large percentage of its citizens for general commuting. In France it is not uncommon for a household to own 4 to 5 bicycles. In Denmark over 50% of the population rides a bicycle at least once per week. In South Korea a major city pays its citizens about $30 per month if they ride a bicycle for commuting to work at least 15 times per month. These countries have known for years that cycling is a healthy activity for many things other than individual fitness. It is for these reasons that even non-cyclists should support any initiative in their communities that will promote the use of bicycles.
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