Petrol prices, road rage, packed and unreliable trains, buses that don’t turn up - we all understand the downsides of commuting. But a recent study from Lund University in Sweden offers another reason to swap your season ticket for a home office - your commute is bad for your health.
The study tracked 21,000 full-time employees in Sweden aged between 18 and 65, comparing their health and asking about their method of commuting and sleep and stress levels, as well as counting up the number of days they missed work. The results show that taking a car, train or bus to the office is likely to negatively impact your health.
“Generally car and public transport users suffered more everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and, on a seven point scale, felt that they struggled with their health compared to the active commuters,” like cyclists, said Researcher Erik Hansson. The longer the commute, the worse the effects.
Lack of control
Dr Redford Williams, professor of medicine at Duke University commented on the findings. He argued that while sitting in your car is not an inherently unhealthy activity, the actual problem with commuting may be as much the lack of control we have over the experience as the hours of inactivity.
"We know that people who have a lot of demands and very little autonomy over how they meet those demands are at a higher risk for negative health effects. And when you’re relying on a train to get to work, it’s totally out of your control most of the time.
Lack of control is linked to higher stress."
Health problems
The health problems associated with stress are well documented. While chronic stress doesn’t cause any single disease, it makes many ailments considerably worse. Everything from the common cold and back pain to Alzheimer’s disease and heart attacks can be exacerbated by stress.
So, next time the 5.40 is delayed due to signal failure, or there’s a city centre traffic snarl up, it’s not just your supper that might be the worse for wear.
New ways of working remotely put you more in control of your surroundings and should also boost your health. If there’s a way you can work that lets you be flexible, and in charge, you’ll feel better for it. Maybe it’s time to consider working from home.
Source: Gigaom, ABC News.
