Cycling beneficial for heartand environment: Experts

PATNA: Health experts and environmentalists emphasized the need of promoting the use of bicycles to maintain good health and environment.
Expressing their views on the World Bicycle Day on Friday, they cited the World Health Organisation (WHO) report that providing bicycles to the world’s poorest individuals can prevent at least 15 lakh premature deaths and five billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Bihar State Pollution Control Board’s chairman Ashok Kumar Ghosh said cycling must be promoted, especially among the youths, for their daily commutation.
All other means of transportation were fast consuming our natural resources and the ones used by the automobile industries are not going to last for more than 50 to 100 years.
Ghosh pointed out that bicycles contribute to cleaner air and less congestion and makes education, healthcare and other social services more accessible to the most vulnerable sections of the population. Cycling is very common in most European countries and even middle-class people never hesitate in using bicycles to commute. However, he pleaded for construction of separate pathways for cyclists to avoid accidents.
Dr Sanjeev Kumar of AIIMS Patna said cycling is a complete exercise and regular cycling keeps one healthy and medically fit. In fact, the treadmill test (TMT) or cardiac stress test is based on cycling. Regular cycling is beneficial for heart, lungs and muscles and improves strength, balance and coordination of our mind and body. “It helps prevent falls and fractures and can also help improve mental health conditions such as depression, stress and anxiety to a considerable extent,” he said.
Dr Satish Kumar of Nalanda Medical College medicine department also said regular cycling helps control body weight, improve metabolism, build muscles and reduce blood fat levels. It strengthens heart muscles and improves lung function. Studies have shown that cycling for more than 30 minutes per day can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 40%.
He pointed out that the aim of Bicycle Day celebration is to encourage and motivate people to adopt cycling in their daily lives for physical fitness activities and get freedom from obesity. By adopting cycling, people will also facilitate in reducing carbon footprints, he added.