TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations of active and inactive travel with chronic diseases in Taipei City
AU - Chi, Mei ju
AU - Yen, Hsin Yen
AU - Huang, Hao Yun
N1 - Funding Information:
The current study found that residents who spent more time in active travel were negatively associated with the odds of experiencing chronic diseases. Active travel is an important PA resource for urban residents, and it has dose-response relationships with personal health conditions and chronic diseases (Abdelbasset et al., 2019; Garc?a-Hermoso et al., 2018). When travelling by public transportation, walking is also a necessary element which leads to increased PA (Shaw et al., 2017). Travelling for over 10 min by walking, cycling, or public transportation assists in decreasing the number and risk factors of chronic diseases, including the BMI, WC, BP, and high-density lipoprotein levels (Lu et al., 2013; Luan et al., 2019). In a previous meta-analytical study, the effectiveness of long-term active travel revealed improvements in life expectancy, cardiopulmonary functions, physical fitness, bone health, and BW (G?tschi et al., 2016). Similar to the current study, multiple previous cross-sectional studies found that when engaging in more-frequent, longer exposure times, longer distances, and higher PA levels of active travel, individuals had higher energy expenditures, better chronic cardiovascular and metabolic health, a lower BMI, and lower risks of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, being overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and depression (Abdelbasset et al., 2019; Garc?a-Hermoso et al., 2018; Hollingworth et al., 2015; Laverty et al., 2015; Stevenson et al., 2015). However, the amount of travel time using the subway and train was the only significant active travel pattern associated with being overweight and obese, and having chronic diseases. One possible interpretation might be that the subway and train are the most popular main mode of active travel in Taipei City. According to a National Travel Survey in 2020 (Ministry of Transportation and Communications, 2021), 40.0% of residents used the subway or train as their main transport mode, while only 8.5% of residents used walking and 3.1% of residents used cycling in Taipei City. Previous evidence-based studies also indicated a positive association between public transportation and individuals' health status (Chng et al., 2016; Passi-Solar et al., 2020; Wu et al., 2021). Public transportation is one of the urban transport strategies to create a walkable environment for providing opportunities for residents? walking behavior (Saif et al., 2019). Well-developed public transport systems can support residents to automatically engage in walking and continually increase self-efficacy and PA levels (Ding et al., 2018; Sha et al., 2019).This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under grant [MOST 108-2314-B-038-070].
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under grant [ MOST 108-2314-B-038-070 ].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Objectives: Active travel promotes transport-related physical activity and inactive travel increases sedentary times. Active travel might be a modifiable and efficient approach for preventing chronic diseases in urban populations. The purpose of this study was to explore associations of active and inactive travel with urban residents’ overweight, obesity, and chronic diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Taipei City through an anonymous street-intercept survey. A self-reported transport physical activity questionnaire was used to collect data on the amount of travel time using active travel modes (by walking, cycling, bus, the subway, or train) and inactive travel modes (by motorcycle or car) in the past week. Descriptive analyses, independent t-tests, a one-way ANOVA, and a logistic regression were performed for data analysis. Results: In total, 1365 urban residents responded; 391 (28.64%) participants had at least one diagnosis of a chronic disease. Participants who were female, single, aged 20–34 years, and with a college or graduate degree had a significantly higher weekly average amount of time using active travel modes than did their counterparts. The amount of residents’ travel time using the subway and train (odds ratio (OR): 0.95 [95% confidence interval: 0.91, 0.99]) revealed a significant negative association, while the amounts of travel time using a car as a driver (OR: 1.08 [1.04, 1.12]) and using a car as a passenger (OR: 1.10 [1.02, 1.18]) revealed significant positive associations with the odds of all chronic diseases. Conclusions: Urban residents who engage in active travel have potential benefits of physical activity and health promotion. Transforming urban residents from inactive into active commuters is recommended to prevent chronic diseases in urban populations.
AB - Objectives: Active travel promotes transport-related physical activity and inactive travel increases sedentary times. Active travel might be a modifiable and efficient approach for preventing chronic diseases in urban populations. The purpose of this study was to explore associations of active and inactive travel with urban residents’ overweight, obesity, and chronic diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Taipei City through an anonymous street-intercept survey. A self-reported transport physical activity questionnaire was used to collect data on the amount of travel time using active travel modes (by walking, cycling, bus, the subway, or train) and inactive travel modes (by motorcycle or car) in the past week. Descriptive analyses, independent t-tests, a one-way ANOVA, and a logistic regression were performed for data analysis. Results: In total, 1365 urban residents responded; 391 (28.64%) participants had at least one diagnosis of a chronic disease. Participants who were female, single, aged 20–34 years, and with a college or graduate degree had a significantly higher weekly average amount of time using active travel modes than did their counterparts. The amount of residents’ travel time using the subway and train (odds ratio (OR): 0.95 [95% confidence interval: 0.91, 0.99]) revealed a significant negative association, while the amounts of travel time using a car as a driver (OR: 1.08 [1.04, 1.12]) and using a car as a passenger (OR: 1.10 [1.02, 1.18]) revealed significant positive associations with the odds of all chronic diseases. Conclusions: Urban residents who engage in active travel have potential benefits of physical activity and health promotion. Transforming urban residents from inactive into active commuters is recommended to prevent chronic diseases in urban populations.
KW - Cycling
KW - Non-communicable diseases
KW - Obesity
KW - Physical activity
KW - Public transportation
KW - Sedentary behavior
KW - Walking
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jth.2022.101361
DO - 10.1016/j.jth.2022.101361
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85126522580
SN - 2214-1405
VL - 25
JO - Journal of Transport and Health
JF - Journal of Transport and Health
M1 - 101361
ER -
