'World Health Organization, Western Pacific Regional Office'
Abstract
Physical inactivity is a significant public health
problem in most regions of the world, which
is unlikely to be solved by classical health
promotion approaches alone. The promotion
of active transport (cycling and walking) for
everyday physical activity is a win-win approach;
it not only promotes health but can also lead
to positive environmental effects, especially
if cycling and walking replace short car trips.
Cycling and walking can also be more readily
integrated into people’s busy schedules than,
for example, leisure-time exercise. These forms
of physical activity are also more practicable for
groups of the population for which sport is either
not feasible because of physical limitations or is
not an accessible leisure activity for economic,
social or cultural reasons. There is a large
potential for active travel in European urban
transport, as many trips are short and would
be amenable to being undertaken on foot or
by bicycle. This, however, requires effective
partnerships with the transport and urban
planning sectors, whose policies are key driving
forces in providing appropriate conditions for
such behavioural changes to take place. This has
been recognized by a number of international
policy frameworks, such as the Action Plan for
implementation of the European Strategy for the
Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable
Diseases 2012–2016, adopted by the WHO
Regional Committee for Europe (1). The strategy
identifies the promotion of active mobility as
one of the supporting interventions endorsed
by WHO Member States to address this highpriority
topic in the European Region, as do other
international policy frameworks such as the
Toronto Charter for Physical Activity launched
in May 2010 as a global call for action (2)