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15 Apr 2025

Retail Crime Remains Alarming - Bira's Latest Survey Reveals Urgent Need for Action

11 Apr 2025

Bira has cautiously welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement this week on plans to put 'thousands of Bobbies back on the Beat' with a new neighbourhood policing guarantee.

11 Apr 2025

Cycling UK has called for greater, targeted investment in cycling infrastructure across the UK to help more women feel safe and confident to cycle, with the charity urging Government to commit...

10 Apr 2025

Graeme Stickells, Head Trainer at South Africa’s only Cytech training centre Torq Zone Academy, is recovering from a life-threatening hit-and-run incident — and a crowdfunder has...

9 Apr 2025

Seven in ten cyclists in the UK have had their bike stolen, with the average cost of a stolen bike at £612.80 bringing the total estimated cost of thefts to £2.4 billion, according...

8 Apr 2025

MPs from multiple parties are pushing for Cycle to Work scheme to be expanded to include more people, including pensioners and freelancers, with the aim of encouraging more people to cycle.

2 Apr 2025

New regulations around recycling, known as ‘Simpler Recycling’, will soon require non-household municipal premises, including businesses, schools, and hospitals, to separate food...

2 Apr 2025

WorkNest has provided ACT members with essential resources covering statutory employment rates and the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, with the updates aimed at helping independent...

1 Apr 2025

Bira has voiced serious concerns over the latest figures from the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index for March 2025.

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Cycling to work linked with better mental health

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

An  analysis of almost 380,000 people living in Scotland suggests that commuting by bike reduces the risk of mental ill-health.

City cycling

While previous research suggests cycling to work benefits peoples’ mental wellbeing, most studies have involved small numbers of participants and self-reported measures of mental health.

Now, University of Edinburgh researchers combined data for 378,253 people aged 16-74 from the 2011 Scottish census with NHS prescription records for the following five years.

The people included in the study lived and worked in Edinburgh or Glasgow, stayed within around one mile of a cycle path and did not have any prescriptions for mental ill-health at the start of the study.

Researchers found a 15% reduction in prescriptions for depression or anxiety amongst cycle commuters in the five years after 2011 compared with non-cyclists. Commuting by bike led to greater reductions in mental health prescriptions in women than in men.

The team’s analysis also reveals that only around 2% of commuters in Glasgow cycled to work, with just under 5% doing so in Edinburgh. Men were more likely than women to ride a bike to work.

The findings provide further evidence of the importance of promoting active travel and investing in infrastructure to encourage more people to commute by bike, the team says.

The study, published in The International Journal of Epidemiology, was funded by the Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) through Administrative Data Research (ADR) Scotland.

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