Policy brief: Climate and health benefits
of active commuting
By promoting active commuting—walking or cycling—more effectively, Finland could substantially reduce its carbon emissions. At the same time, increasing everyday physical activity would improve physical health and function among the population. This policy recommendation by the Climate Nudge project focuses on active commuting (trips between home and the workplace) and outlines various ways to increase its prevalence.
Finland urgently needs additional climate actions to meet the national and EU-level emission reduction targets. At the same time, insufficient physical activity among Finns is detrimental to the population’s physical health and functional capacity. Increasing the prevalence of active commuting could simultaneously help tackle both these challenges. However, achieving this goal requires utilizing all existing measures.
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Articles
Juuso J Jussila, Anna Pulakka, Jaana I Halonen, Paula Salo, Sara Allaouat, Santtu Mikkonen, Timo Lanki. European Journal of Public Health, ckad128; Are active school transport and leisure-time physical activity associated with performance and wellbeing at secondary school? A population-based study.
Background:
Physically active pupils may be better and more resilient learners. However, it is unclear whether walking or cycling to school yields similar educational and school-related mental health benefits as leisure-time physical activity. We examined the associations of active school transport and leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with perceived academic performance, competency in academic skills, school burnout and school enjoyment.
Methods:
We included 34 103 Finnish adolescents (mean age 15.4 years; 53% girls) from the 2015 School Health Promotion study cohort. For the analyses, we used logistic regression, adjusting for major sociodemographic, environmental, lifestyle and physical activity covariates.
Results:
Active school transport was positively associated with educational outcomes and school enjoyment, but not with school burnout. For example, compared with non-active transport, 10–30 min of daily active school transport was linked to 30% [odds ratio (OR) 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21–1.40] and 17% (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.08–1.27) higher odds of high perceived academic performance and high reading competency, respectively. Leisure-time physical activity was robustly associated with all outcomes. For example, compared with the inactive, the most physically active adolescents had 86% higher odds of high perceived academic performance (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.66–2.08), 57% higher odds of high competency in mathematics (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.39–1.77) and 40% lower odds of school burnout (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.52–0.69).
Conclusions:
Compared with active school transport, leisure-time physical activity was more strongly associated with educational and school-related mental health outcomes. Nevertheless, walking or cycling to school might lead to improvements in classroom performance and school enjoyment.
Essi Kalliolahti, Ville Aalto, Paula Salo, Timo Lanki, Jenni Ervasti, Tuula Oksanen. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2023: Associations between commute mode use and self-rated health and work ability among Finnish public sector employees.
Abstract
Aim:
To determine the extent to which level of active commute mode use is associated with self-rated health and work ability.
Methods:
The data were sourced from the Finnish Public Sector Study survey in 2020 (n = 38,223). The associations between active commuting – assessed with the frequency of using active commute modes – and self-rated health and work ability were examined with negative binomial regression analyses. Passive commuting and low-to-moderate levels of active commuting were compared with active commuting, and the models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors, working time mode, and lifestyle risk factors. We also assessed separate associations between walking and cycling as a mode of commuting by additionally considering the commuting distance and the outcomes.
Results:
After adjustment, when using active commuters as a reference, passive commuters had a 1.23-fold (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.19 to 1.29) risk of suboptimal self-rated health and a 1.18-fold (95% CI 1.13 to 1.22) risk of suboptimal work ability. More frequent and/or longer distance by foot and especially by bicycle, was positively associated with health and work ability. Never commuting by bicycle was associated with a 1.65-fold (95% CI 1.55 to 1.74) risk of suboptimal health and a 1.27-fold (95% CI 1.21 to 1.34) risk of suboptimal work ability when using high-dose bicycle commuting as a reference.
Conclusions:
Passive commuting was associated with suboptimal self-rated health and suboptimal work ability. Our results suggest that using active commute modes, particularly cycling, may be beneficial for employee health and work ability.
Juuso J. Jussila, Anna Pulakka, Jenni Ervasti, Jaana I. Halonen, Santtu Mikkonen, Sara Allaouat, Paula Salo, Timo Lanki. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2022: Associations of leisure-time physical activity and active school transport with mental health outcomes: A population-based study.
Abstract
Promoting physical activity can improve population health. This study aimed to examine associations of leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and active school transport with mental health, that is, symptoms of depression and anxiety, among 15- to 16-year-old adolescents. We also assessed the relationships with less-studied outcomes, such as chronic stress and visits to school psychologist. A nationwide Finnish cohort of eighth and ninth graders from the School Health Promotion study (32 829 participants; mean age 15.4 years; 53% girls) was studied. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR), with models adjusted for major sociodemographic, health behavior, and physical activity variables. Key findings suggest that leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with better mental health in a dose–response manner. Even the smallest dose, 30 weekly minutes, was linked to 17% lower odds of chronic stress symptoms compared to inactivity (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.71–0.96). Compared to non-active transportation, more than 30 min of daily active school transport yielded 19% (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.07–1.31) and 33% (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.12–1.58) higher odds of depression symptoms and school psychologist visits, respectively. However, no associations were found for low-to-moderate daily active school transport levels (<30 min). This large-scale study further highlights a positive association between leisure-time physical activity and mental health among youth. Future research should explore what factors might explain the potential adverse mental health outcomes of active school transport.
Helena Siipi & Polaris Koi, 2021: The Ethics of Climate Nudges: Central Issues for Applying Choice Architecture Interventions to Climate Policy. Cambridge University Press. 1-18.
Abstract
While nudging has garnered plenty of interdisciplinary attention, the ethics of applying it to climate policy has been little discussed. However, not all ethical considerations surrounding nudging are straightforward to apply to climate nudges. In this article, we overview the state of the debate on the ethics of nudging and highlight themes that are either specific to or particularly important for climate nudges. These include: the justification of nudges that are not self-regarding; how to account for climate change denialists; transparency; knowing the right or best behaviours; justice concerns; and whether the efficacy of nudges is sufficient for nudges to be justified as a response to the climate crisis. We conclude that climate nudges raise distinct ethical questions that ought to be considered in developing climate nudges.