A new report, has after analysing the data, come up with a figure for the public health benefit offered by cycling. The study, Cycling: Getting Australia Moving, funded by the Australian government and prepared by Melbourne University and the Cycling Promotion Fund concluded that thanks to the increased health of cyclists, public health services are spared an estimated $227.2m AUD annually.
the report also points out that about half the Australian population is insufficiently active, significantly increasing their risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 Diabetes and obesity, not to mention breast and bowel cancer, depression and anxiety. And they found that “women and older Australians are less likely to cycle, a pattern which is not consistent with international cycling prevalence data.”
– from treehugger.com