House of Commons Heath Committee on Obesity, 10 MAY 2004

Turning to the role of physical inactivity, only just over a third of men and around a quarter of women achieve the Department of Health’s target of 30 minutes of physical activity 5 times a week. Levels of walking and cycling have fallen drastically in recent decades, while the number of cars has doubled in 30 years. Children are also increasingly sedentary both in and out of school. A fifth of boys and girls undertake less than 30 minutes activity a day. (pg 4)

We describe as scandalous the failure over 10 years of the Department for Transport to produce its promised walking strategy, and recommend that this is now included in a broader anti-obesity strategy. We also call on the Department of Health to have a strategic input into transport policy. We note the superior conditions for cyclists in other European countries, and whilst not offering detailed prescriptions for boosting cycling and walking levels, commend the Danish town planning we witnessed, notably in respect of proper segregation of cyclists and other road users. A key recommendation we make is for a health impact assessment to be made on major planning proposals which takes due account of the physical activity aspects. (pg 5) The NAO report Tackling Obesity in England stated that the extra physical activity involved in daily living 50 years ago, compared with today was the equivalent to running a marathon a week. So why have lifestyles changed so dramatically in the past 50 years? A first answer lies in the increasing use of motorised transport instead of active methods of transport, such as walking and cycling. The latest National Travel Survey indicates that the average person now walks 189 miles per year, a fall of 66 miles over 25 years.161 According to Tom Franklin, of Living Streets, it is clear that “we are walking less than we have probably ever done in history. (pg 43) The increasing use of cars has led to a vicious circle of car dependency, as town planning has increasingly prioritised the needs of motorists above those of pedestrians and cyclists, meaning that in many places walking and cycling are at best unpleasant and at worst dangerous. At the same time, local neighbourhoods are increasingly perceived by parents as unsafe for children to play out in, implicitly discouraging active play and forcing children back in front of the television set. This phenomenon was repeatedly described by our witnesses. (pg 42) Dr Nick Wareham of the Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, graphically illustrated the decline in cycling when he pointed out that 23 billion kilometres were cycled in the UK in 1952 but only 4 billion kilometres were now cycled annually. 170. The decline in cycling has occurred at the same time as the UK car population has grown in size. Whereas there were 16 million cars in 1975 there are 27 million today.  Cycle use in European countries such as the Netherlands differs from Britain where cycling drops off markedly in the mid-teenage years, particularly for women, whereas Dutch men and women maintain healthy cycle use into adulthood and old age. CTC, the national cyclists’ association, suggested that cycle training was a key component inmaintaining use.(pg 45) According to the organisation Working for Cycling, in 1985–86 only 22% of 5–10 year olds were driven to school; that figure had risen to 39% by 1999–2000. Paul Osborne of the National Heart Forum noted that fewer than 1% of school journeys were made on bicycles in this country. That compares to about 15–20% in Germany and 50% in Denmark. This may be because at least one-third of primary schools have effectively banned cycling to school by refusing to allow children to bring bicycles onto the premises. 147. As Tom Franklin for Living Streets pointed out, the impact of lowered physical activity will not fall simply on the health of the present generation of schoolchildren, but will be carried into adulthood and will be perpetuated when today’s children become parents themselves: For the first time ever less than half of our young children are walking to school. They have learned habits which they will take with them through the rest of their life which is that you drive round the corner rather than walk round the corner. (pg 44)  For almost 20 years Odense has been working to develop cycling. We were particularly impressed to see how children were involved in the planning process. Each year, children in schools are asked to use a computer program to map their journey to school. On this, they mark any hot-spots where they feel in danger. This information is then collated and planning authorities give priority to improving conditions at these danger spots. We also commend the approach we saw in Odense, where funding support for school transport was based on the degree of danger in covering the route from home to school by other means. This provides a financial incentive on the authorities to create safer walking and cycling routes. (pg 84) If the Government were to achieve its target of trebling cycling in the period 2000–2010 (and there are very few signs that it will) that might achieve more in the fight against obesity than any individual measure we recommend within this report. (pg 85)