MRC Epidemiology Unit
In many countries, including the UK, many fewer women than men cycle. Using data from 17 countries in six continents, a new study led by researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge has identified a threshold above which we start to see at least as many women cycling as men. For countries this […]
Physical activity prevents almost four million early deaths worldwide each year
At least 3.9 million early deaths are being averted worldwide every year by people being physically active, according to a new study published in The Lancet Global Health today by researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. The team behind the study argue that too often we focus on the negative health consequences of […]
Severo Ochoa Webinars – The Impacts of Active Transport – now available to watch
On Wednesday 3 June the MRC Epidemiology Unit, in collaboration with ISGlobal and RMIT University, hosted two webinars exploring the state of the art in assessing the impacts of active transport. Aims of the webinars Bring together the international research and practitioner community in transport impact assessment Learn about readily available tools to assess transport […]
Road Safety: switch to cycling to keep others safe
Rachel Aldred and James Woodcock write about new research examining the risk posed to other road users by particular types of transport. This post was originally published in The Conversation. Analysis from the UK Department for Transport compares the risk of being injured when you are cycling, driving or walking. Motorcyclists have an especially high […]
Men pose more risk to other road users than women
Greater gender equity in road transport jobs might help reduce fatalities, suggest researchers Men pose more risk to other road users than women do and they are more likely to drive more dangerous vehicles, reveals the first study of its kind, published online in the journal Injury Prevention by scientists at the University of Westminster […]
Twenty times more English children could cycle to school with better transport planning
Rachel Aldred (University of Westminster), Anna Goodman (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), James Woodcock (MRC Epidemiology Unit) and Robin Lovelace (University of Leeds) from the Propensity to Cycle – www.pct.bike – team write about we can get more children cycling to school. This post was originally published in The Conversation. Only 2% of […]
Indian women confined to the home, in cities designed for men.
Rahul Goel, a Research Associate at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, writes in The Conversation about how safer streets may help reduce inequality and improve the health of women in India. The inequality between men and women in India is stark, and nowhere more so than on the streets of its cities, which are undeniably the […]
Using Google Street View to estimate travel patterns in cities
A study published today in PLOS ONE indicates that Google Street View has the potential to estimate how common cycling is in cities, and potentially other travel patterns too. The analysis of 2,000 Google Street View images from 1,000 random locations in each of 34 cities in Great Britain found strong agreement with data on […]
England’s NHS Health Check Programme Saving Lives
The NHS Health Check programme prevents around 300 premature deaths and results in more people living free of cardiovascular disease in England each year, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK. Feasible changes in the delivery of the programme could result in […]
More people cycling and eating more fruit and veg could save thousands of lives – but at what cost?
By being more physically active and having a healthier diet, we can reduce our chance of becoming ill and dying prematurely. However, the impact of individuals’ behaviour can be difficult to measure in populations. New research published in BMJ Open by researchers from CEDAR, MRC Epidemiology Unit and the University of Oxford is helping us […]