Chief medical officer calls for eightfold increase in cycling

Britain's outgoing chief medical officer has called for an eightfold increase in cycling to combat obesity and other health disorders.

Sir Liam Donaldson, who retires later this year, said in his annual report into the state of public health that a public health crisis has been caused by designing cities around motor vehicles.

More cycling, he said, would be good for the health of humans and that of the planet.

“Carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by nearly 40%,” he said, “ making a substantial contribution to tackling climate change. The health benefits would be impressive: there would be significant reductions in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression and dementia.

“ In London alone, over 55,000 healthy years of life could be saved every year. Travel by bicycle or on foot needs to become the safe, viable, attractive option for a far greater proportion of journeys.”

In the report, Sir Liam calls for our transport infrastructure to be re-designed in order to encourage the levels of walking and cycling in the Netherlands and Denmark.

The report recommends that: "National targets should be set to double travel on foot in England’s towns and cities, and to increase travel by bicycle eightfold; transport policy and road design should support the achievement of such gains."

"Lifestyle changes can make a substantial contribution to slowing climate change and can significantly reduce the disease and death that are associated with a sedentary lifestyle – a lifestyle to which the current absolute dominance of motorised transport contributes."

The advice from the chief medical officer reinforces the messages from the Active Travel Strategy jointly presented by the Department for Transport and Department of Health last month.

The strategy notes that the annual cost of physical inactivity related to transport in urban area total £9.8 billion. This is as significant as the cost of road casualties and congestion costs.

In 2009, a Lancet report drew similar conclusions about the need to increase cycling to improve public health