Study cyclists are less overweight, but e-bike riders are not

Cycling to work reduces weight

Cycling is the healthiest way of getting around our cities. A study on locomotion in seven European cities has found that daily bicycle people have the lowest BMI of any class of road users. However, this is not true if sufferers use a so-called e-bike.

Researchers at Imperial College London and Hasselt University in Belgium have found in their recent research that riding a bicycle seems to be the healthiest way to travel in cities. Regular users of bicycles have the lowest BMI of all road users. The physicians published the results of their study in the English language journal "Environment International".

Users of e-bikes reduce their BMI only minimally

The study focused on some major cities such as Vienna, Zurich, Antwerp, Barcelona and Rome. The study found that people with an e-bike had a higher BMI compared to those who rode normal bikes. E-bike riders also had a higher BMI than pedestrians. In addition, her BMI was higher than in subjects who used public transport and motorcycles. The only group of road users who had a higher BMI than the users of e-bikes were motorists, explain the scientists.

How did cycling affect men??

Cities should generally be made more friendly to users of bicycles, so not only can the obesity of the population be combated, but also the rising air pollution, the researchers explain. The study, which analyzed the habits of more than 2,000 people in different cities, found that when men used a bicycle instead of a car every day to travel to work, they averaged about 0.75 kilograms of weight lost a reduction of the BMI by 0.24. For female participants, the results are a bit lower.

Cycling prevents overweight and obesity

The car ride contributes to obesity and also to air pollution. In contrast, users of bicycles burn fat and do not pollute the environment, says study author Audrey de Nazelle from the Center for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. Even if people occasionally ride their bikes, for example, to run errands, the study found that they can maintain their BMI. In this way, cycling prevents overweight people from gaining weight, and cycling also prevents those of normal weight from becoming overweight or obese, adds study author Dr. Evi Dons of Hasselt University added. (As)