Higher chances of obesity among car users: Study
MUMBAI: A person, who prefers travelling by cab or car, is 1.14 times more likely to become obese than one who prefers to walk, finds a recent study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-bombay (IIT-B).
The study, published in the September volume of the Journal of Health and Transport, found that across all age groups, walking reduces the chances of becoming overweight or obese significantly over those who prefer to take cars, three-wheelers, motorised two-wheelers and public transport.
Gopal Patil, professor, and Gajanand Sharma, a PHD student, both from the department of civil engineering at IIT-B, calculated the odds ratio or the statistical association between modes of transport and obesity across four age groups— up to 30 years, 30 to 50 years, 50 to 65 years, and 65 and above.
They found that the odds ratio or chances of being obese were the lowest across all age groups for those who preferred walking as their primary means of transport. “Usage of a walk and public transport not only lead to sustainability in the transportation system but also helps promote the health wellbeing of the society. Thus, policymakers need to invest in these active modes of transportation and promote their usage,” said Patil.
The researchers collected data from 5,447 households in
Navi Mumbai, of which they analysed data for 4,253 respondents. Nearly 40% of the respondents fell in the category of overweight/obesity. The data set observed an equal proportion of low-income and middle-income groups.
Almost 53% of the respondents did not own a car and about 32% used motorised twowheelers as the primary mode of travel. Only 6% used threewheelers as the primary mode of transport. For 14.1% of the respondents, walking was the primary travel mode.
Overweight/obesity was determined using the body mass index (BMI) value of respondents. The World Health Organization defines obesity as a BMI over 25.
Shankar Das, professor and dean, School of Health Systems Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, who was not a part of the study, said, “The trend analysis of recent data confirms that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in India is climbing rapidly than the world average. However, this significant issue does not find an adequate place in our health and nutrition policies.”
Interestingly, as the travel time by walking increases by 10 minutes, the change in the probability of being overweight/ obese decreases for all age groups. “This means that even though age has an increasing impact on overweight/obesity, this increasing effect can be controlled by investing more time on walking trips,” the study said.