Europeans Walk 3 Times More Than
Americans
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Fast Walkers Live Longer -New Study
January 27, 2010
By DeDe Howard, Contributing Columnist
A new study has revealed one of the reasons Europeans are thinner
than we are--they walk more. Researchers from the University of
Tennessee and Rutgers University found that, on average Europeans
walk 237 miles (382 kilometers) a year. Americans, in contrast walk
only 87 miles (140 kilometers) a year. Europeans also bike more,
and average of 116 miles a year compared to just 24 for Americans.
The researchers examined data from 2000 from various European
countries including the Netherlands (Holland), Sweden, Latvia and
Switzerland as well as data from Australia and the U.S. The
researchers then compared this data showing the degree of so-called
"active transport" with rates of obesity.
No surprise here. The U.S. led the charts for rates of obesity at
23.9%. Sweden had the lowest rates of obesity at 8% almost tying
the Netherlands at 8.1%. I can tell you from my trips to the
Netherlands that the Dutch really do bike --everywhere. They bike to
business meetings, they bike to the grocery store. The Dutch seem to
love their bicycles more than any other people on Earth. But
Amsterdam, the Dutch capital city, lends itself more to bike riding than
our freeways. Amsterdam is a compact city with very few little car
traffic. Canals wind their way through the main sections of the town.
Bike lanes are the norm. Cars, and indeed pedestrians, are cautioned
to give way to bikes. Or else. One tour guide even told me that if you
have a collision with a biker, you are presumed by law to be in the
wrong. In other words, their world is built around the supremacy of
the bicycle and the rights of bicyclers.
Obesity Rates for Selected Countries (Chart Below)
Not so is our world in the U.S. I don't have to tell you that bike lanes
are not the norm. And car drivers certainly do not give way to bikers.
In the U.S., our world is built around the supremacy of cars. And the
rights of car drivers. Too late to change that, I suppose.
Getting back to the study, I have a problem with its conclusions. It's
easy enough to point out that Europeans walk more. I am a big
believer that the more active European lifestyle. But when you look at
the study's conclusions, you see that the difference in the daily calorie
expenditures because of the walkinga nd cycling is really not that
much. Europeans burn an average of 83 calories from walking while
Americans burn 40 calories a day walking. Not much of a difference.
So what's the whole story? I think the rest of the real story lies in the
difference in the amount we eat. Studies from the World Health
Organization and various agriculture exporter reports comparing the
daily amount of calories consumed by various countries found that
Americans consume a little under 3700 (3654) calories a day while
Europeans on average eat 3354 calories a day, a difference of about
300 calories. That's a difference of about 9000 calories per month, or
slightly less than 2.5 pounds a month. Now, that's a big difference.
That would amount to a difference of 30 pounds of weight loss per
year.
How much is 300 calories a day? Three slices of bread or 2 sodas or 1
serving of meat. Skip one dessert, skip 2 cookies, skip 2 handfuls of
potato chips.
The conclusion? Europeans are thinner than Americans because they
are more active and ----and this is the biggest contributor---because
they simply eat less. Just cutting out a few treats in our daily diets and
walking more can close the gap.
You're just getting started. Find our more valuable information on
exercise, weight management and your overall health: Why
Europeans Are Thinner Than Americans/Walking Health Benefits
/Ideal Breakfast to Lose Weight/ Diet and Exercise --A Simple Plan
for Life / Foods That Shrink Your Waist / Why Waist Size
Matters/Sugar-TheDiseaseConnection
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Sources: 2004 study by the American College of Sports Medicine
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| What's Inside This Article? -Just how obese we Americans are compared to people from other countries -How many calories do Americans eat per day -How many calories do Europeans eat per day -How far do Americans walk and bike each day compared to Europeans |