Group items tagged share - Stressing Fitness

Public bicycle sharing schemes such as Barcelona's "Bicing" program or London's "Boris Bikes" save lives and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study on Friday.
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Researchers at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona found in a study, however, that around 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution are averted and some 12 lives saved each year by Barcelona's scheme, which was introduced in March 2007.
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From this they estimated the number of deaths associated with traveling by bike compared with driving for three main factors -- physical activity, road traffic incidents and exposure to air pollution. They also estimated the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.Looking at the Barcelona "Bicing" scheme, they calculated an annual increase of 0.13 deaths from air pollution and 0.03 deaths from traffic accidents among cyclists compared with car users.But as a result of high levels of physical activity, 12.46 deaths were avoided, making a total of 12.28 deaths avoided among cyclists every year, the researchers said. They also estimated a reduction in carbon emissions of over 9 million kg or 9,000 tons per year, the equivalent to flying 1,800 people to Sydney and back from london.The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week and says this could be done by walking for 30 minutes five times per week or by cycling to work every day.
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Barcelona's scheme was launched in March 2007 and by August 2009, more than 182,000 people had subscribed to it -- 11 percent of the city's population. The average distance traveled by Bicing on a working day was 3.29 km (2.04 miles), taking an average of 14 minutes, according to the study's findings.The researchers said this initial assessment suggested it was important "to encourage cities to change car use by cycling and stimulate the implementation of bike sharing systems in cities to improve the health of the population."
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AP | Study: US has much higher obesity rate than Canada - 0 views

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studies health obesity canada

shared by Ilona Meagher on 03 Mar 11 - No Cached

American adults have a significantly higher rate of obesity than their neighbors to the north, a new study says. About 24 percent of Canadians are obese compared to more than 34 percent of Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Wednesday.
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The two countries have different racial demographics. The United States has more black and Hispanic people, and both have higher rates of obesity. But even looking solely at white people, there was still a big difference - a 26 percent obesity rate in Canada compared to 33 percent in the United States.
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Another mystery: In children there was little difference. The childhood obesity rate was 15.5 percent in the United States and 12 percent in Canada, but the difference was not statistically significant.
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a 2006 Harvard Medical School study found that Americans are 42 percent more likely than Canadians to have diabetes, 32 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, and 12 percent more likely to have arthritis. That study, based on telephone interviews rather than actual measurements, found about 21 percent of Americans said they were obese, compared with 15 percent of Canadians. That finding suggests Canadians and Americans share one characteristic - they tend to understate their heft.
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