title: [Health effects of cycling to and from work].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of the study was to assess whether people could be motivated in a simple way to cycle regularly to and from work during one year, and to assess whether this could lead to any health-related physiological benefits.
  
  
  METHODS
  25 persons who cycled to and from work during one year were included in the study. Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) and body mass index (BMI) were measured at baseline, after six months and after one year. Total-cholesterol (TC) and HDL-cholesterol (HDL) were measured at the start and the end of the project.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study VO 2max increased with 15.8 %; from 32.5 (8.1: SD) to 37.1 (7.6) ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) (p < 0.001). HDL-cholesterol increased with 15.3 %; from 1.31 (0.31) to 1.51 (0.40) mmol x l(-1) (p < 0.001). No changes were recorded for BMI. The numbers of cycling sessions were greatly reduced during the winter months because of poor cycling conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that cycling to and from work may positively affect physiological variables and thereby have a beneficial health effect.
authors.affiliation: Institutt for allmennlaererutdanning og spesialpedagogikk, Det humanistiske fakultet, Universitetet i Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger, Norway. leif.i.tjelta@uis.no
authors.forename: Leif Inge
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Tjelta
authors.forename: Odd Harald
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Kvåle
authors.forename: Sindre M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Dyrstad
mesh_terms: D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D013997:Time Factors; D014937:Work