Study Finds Bicycling to Be an Effective Weight Management Tool

6/29/2010

Bicycling can be an effective way to maintain a healthy weight, and avoid the medical complications that can come along with obesity, a recent study found.

The study, from the Harvard School of Public Health, found bicycling, along with walking quickly, was able to provide weight management benefits, while walking slowly did not have such an effect. The report added that bicycling for as little as five minutes each day provided health benefits.

The study involved a group of about 18,000 pre-menopausal women between 1989 and 2005, each of whom gained an average of about 20 pounds during that 16-year period.

However, the research found that women who spent more than four hours per week riding a bicycle were 26 percent less likely to gain more than 5 percent of their initial body weight. Overweight women who spent two or three hours a week riding a bicycle were 46 percent less likely to gain more weight over time.

"This is encouraging for women with weight problems because they could substitute bicycling for slow walking or car driving," said research associate Rania Mekary.

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