Any research done by the American Journal of Preventive Medicines has got to be worth a look, hasn’t it?
In this case, their latest study has looked at the link between commuting long distances to work and being overweight.
The study was done in the Texas area and involved 4,300 people. The results suggest that if you commute a long distance to work you are more likely to be overweight as well as have high blood pressure and a low level of cardiovascular fitness.
Another Doughnut? Don’t Mind If I Do
When I saw this story I decided to cast my mind back to the different jobs I have done. I once drove about an hour a day to do a mind numbingly boring insurance job in an office with no windows and the world’s worst coffee machine. Unsurprisingly this was one of the low spots of my life and I definitely had a bit of a pot belly. Personally I am blaming it on having to wash down the disgusting coffee with plenty of doughnuts rather than the commuting.
After a long, long year in that role I got a job as a mortgage underwriter nearer home. If I had carried on with my stratospheric career my next stop would surely have been the Inland Revenue or the ticket collection booth in the local zoo. To get to this job I only had to walk 10 minutes from my front door. Sadly the pot belly increased in this time, as I got home from work so early that I could polish off a packet of biscuits and a yoghurt before my wife got home to make the dinner.
The findings of the study suggest that having a longer commute gives you less time to spend energy. However, my own experience tells me that the time I saved wasn’t exactly used to spend energy.