Mortality, greenhouse gas emissions and consumer cost impacts of combined diet and physical activity scenarios: a health impact assessment study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo quantify changes in mortality, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and consumer costs for physical activity and diet scenarios.DesignFor the physical activity scenarios, all car trips from <1 to <8 miles long were progressively replaced with cycling. For the diet scenarios, the study population was assumed to increase fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption by 1–5 portions of F&V per day, or to eat at least 5 portions per day. Health effects were modelled with the comparative risk assessment method. Consumer costs were based on fuel cost savings and average costs of F&V, and GHG emissions to fuel usage and F&V production.SettingWorking age population for England.ParticipantsData from the Health Survey for England, National Travel Survey and National Diet and Nutrition Survey.Primary outcomes measuredChanges in premature deaths, consumer costs and GHG emissions stratified by age, gender and socioeconomic status (SES).ResultsPremature deaths were reduced by between 75 and 7648 cases per year for the physical activity scenarios, and 3255 and 6187 cases per year for the diet scenarios. Mortality reductions were greater among people of medium and high SES in the physical activity scenarios, whereas people with lower SES benefited more in the diet scenarios. Similarly, transport fuel costs fell more for people of high SES, whereas diet costs increased most for the lowest SES group. Net GHG emissions decreased by between 0.2 and 10.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) per year for the physical activity scenarios and increased by between 1.3 and 6.3 MtCO2e/year for the diet scenarios.ConclusionsIncreasing F&V consumption offers the potential for large health benefits and reduces health inequalities. Replacing short car trips with cycling offers the potential for net benefits for health, GHG emissions and consumer costs.

The climate change mitigation effects of active travel

“…If 10% of the population were changing travel behavior this way, emissions would be expected to decrease by about 10% (car◊bike) and 3% (car◊public transport). The size and direction of emissions changes are in line with some of the few empirical 11,55 and scenario/modelling 17,18,37,56 studies in this area.…”

“…However, none of these factors improved the models signi cantly, and the main ndings were unchanged. Sixth, we excluded carbon emissions from dietary intake as the evidence is not strong on whether day-to-day active travel (as opposed to performance/sport activity) signi cantly increases overall dietary intake when compared to motorized travel 17 . Finally, the interdisciplinary breadth of the PASTA study meant that we measured daily travel behavior, individual and spatial-environmental characteristics using briefer survey tools than might have been feasible in a single-discipline study.…”

“…Beyond a net reduction in travel demand, one of the more promising ways to reduce transport carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions is to promote and invest in active modes of transport (e.g. walking, cycling, e-biking) while 'demoting' motorized modes that rely on fossil energy sources [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] . Surface transport accounts for nearly half the decrease in daily global CO 2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced con nement 22 .…”

“…location, socio-economic status, car ownership, type of car, bike access, perceptions related to the safety, convenience and social status associated with active travel), land use and built environment factors (which impact journey lengths and trip rates), accessibility to public transport, jobs and services, and metereological conditions 15,25−35 . Yet active travel studies are often based on analyses of the potential for emissions mitigation 36 , the generation of scenarios 17,18,37,38 or smaller scale studies focusing on a single city, region or country 16,39 . To better understand the carbonreduction impacts of active travel, it is important to assess the key determinants of travel carbon emissions across a wide range of contexts and include a detailed, comparative analysis of the distribution and composition of emissions by transport mode (e.g.…”

Düzenli Egzersiz Yapan Bireylerin Beslenme Alışkanlıklarının İncelenmesi

“…Fiziksel aktivite ve besin alımı, sağlıklı yaşamın önemli bir parçasıdır. Diğer bir deyişle fiziksel hareketsizlik ve düşük kaliteli diyetler sağlık için önemli risk faktörü oluşturmaktadır (Tainio et al, 2017). Fiziksel aktivite ve besin alımının sağlığa etkisi genellikle ayrı olarak araştırılmıştır.…”