Bicycles boost physical activity

MANY Filipinos are physically considered inactive and at the brink of fatal health conditions, no thanks to the hustle and bustle of living in the Metro.

Antonio Dans, a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, said more Filipinos living in urban areas are physically inactive compared to the national average.

Dans, speaking at the recent Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking hearing where he was one of the resource persons, said 53.2 percent of adults aged from 20 to 59 years old and living in Manila are considered physically inactive.

This is higher compared to the national average of 40.6 percent, Dans stressed.

Dans said people has to be physically active to avoid a rapid increase in noncommunicable diseases (NCDS) in the country. NCDS are also termed as lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases.

NCDS are caused not only of physical inactivity but also bad eating habits and vices such as smoking and drinking.

However, Dans said based on their new theory, NCDS are also a reflection of the lack of choices for Filipinos. He said eating unhealthy food is driven by the relatively more expensive health food items such as salads while smoking is driven by low cigarette prices.

Physical inactivity, meanwhile, is caused by Filipinos’ lack of access to open spaces. And given months of enhanced community quarantine, Dans said there could be an increase in NCDS.

“We smoke not because we want to but because of advertisements and cheap tobacco. We eat unhealthy not because we choose that, but because unhealthy food is much cheaper than healthy food. Salads are very expensive these days,” Dans said. “And why don’t we take active transport to work? The reason is simple. It’s because we don’t have a choice because our streets are built for motorized vehicles. It’s not a choice, it’s how we build society,” he added.

Dans said, changing the environment is key to a true life change. When the government increased tobacco taxes, there was a considerable reduction in the number of smokers. The number of smokers declined to 20.7 percent in 2018 from the 31 percent in 2008. The number of those who never smokerd increased significantly to 64.7 percent in 2018 from 54.3 percent in 2008. This change can happen for physical inactivity by encouraging more Filipinos to take active transport such as bicycles.

Dans said health and health-care problems that can be addressed by bikes include hypertension, diabetes, obesity, physical activity and even a reduction in accidents.

More Filipinos on bikes, he added, also means lesser air pollution which could lead to a decrease in pulmonary diseases which is one of the top diseases that cause mortality among Filipinos.