America is a society that thrives on convenience. We rely unflinchingly on technology and machines to keep us educated, fed, employed. And it’s having it’s effect.
>Obesity is increasing at an alarming rate throughout the world. Today it is estimated that there are more than 300 million obese people world-wide. — The Global Challenge of Obesity and the International Obesity Task Force
**For some perspective:** According to Geohive there are 6,471,499,135 people in the world right now. Nearly 300 million of those 6+ billion are Americans and over 60 million of those Americans are obese. American children and teen-agers aren’t showing any promise for a turn around in this trend.
> The percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight and obese is now higher than ever before. Poor dietary habits and inactivity are reported to contribute to the increase of obesity in youth. **Today’s youth are considered the most inactive generation in history** caused in part by reductions in school physical education programs and unavailable or unsafe community recreational facilities. — Obesity in Youth, AOA
**Have you figured out where the bike advocacy part comes in yet?** Good.
Bike advocacy and bike commuting **have a co-dependent relationship**. In order to safely commute, advocates need to exist. In order to advocate, we have to have people out on their bikes and riding.
If our advocacy efforts make it easier to bike safely, people will bike more. And the most successful way to loose weight and keep it off is to make lifestyle changes, **like riding a bike to work or school**.
> The amount of leisure time devoted to physical activity is among the key differences between weight maintainers and regainers found in every study thus far. The differences are dramatic. A large study at Kaiser Permanente Health Care group in Freemont, California found that 90 percent of maintainers—but only 34 percent of relapsers—exercised regularly. — How to Keep the Pounds Off, PDR Health
So, we’ve established the following:
- As a planet, we are less active and more obese.
- Lifestyle changes are necessary for long term health and weight maintenance.
- Successful bike advocacy makes it easier and more feasible for people to bike instead of drive.
Let’s go advocate! Right? Well, sure, **but there are some stumbling blocks.** Namely in *what* we advocate for. For example, there is often a great debate when the phrase “bike lane” is mentioned in a group of cyclists.
Some people believe that bike lanes get people biking on the roads that wouldn’t if the lanes didn’t exist. Others doubt the safety of such lanes, arguing that they provide a false sense of security, create turning conflicts, put the biker in a poorly visible position and are often littered with gravel, glass and potholes.
While the anti-bike lane argument makes excellent points, it doesn’t do much in terms of encouraging people to ride bikes on roads, does it?
> Cities like Davis, California, Eugene, Oregon, and Boulder, Colorado, have many bicyclists and they have bike lanes. On the other hand, Missoula, Montana, has a lot of bicyclists but no lanes. It would be nice if we had good empirical data on use-especially use before and after implementation of various program options. As it is, there’s no really good way to figure out whether the lanes or the riders came first. — Bike Plan Source Bike Lane Questions
Perhaps advocates need to adopt the attitude that any news is good news, just for a little while. If we take two steps forward and one step back, **we’re still making progress.** And considering the fact that if our efforts result in more cyclists on the road, we’ll not only create awareness, we’ll probably gain a few more advocates.
> “I’m in favor of almost anything that motivates people to get out and ride. Despite the pollyannaish and upbeat notion, I think the more cyclists, the better.” **John Little**, Durham Commuter
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Here are some websites I found useful when researching:
Bike Plan Source — This website serves as a “how to make my community more bike friendly” guide. The creators are very knowledgable about the viewpoints of the cycling community.
How I Lost 100 Pounds — This is the personal journal of a biker who lost 100 pounds primarily from making biking a more important part of his life.
How to Keep the Lost Pounds Off — This is an excellent article discussing how maintainers differ from regainers.
Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin — This group believes that lifestyle changes involving bike commuting make people healthier and happier both physically and emotionally.
American Obesity Association Fact Sheet — This paints a fairly complete picture of what America is dealing with in regards to obesity.
The Global Challenge of Obesity — This website paints a fairly complete picture of what the WORLD is dealing with in regards to obesity.
Geohive — A nice place for global statistics.