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Change your commute, improve your health

Five ways a new commute can improve your health in 2005

With the new year and its accompanying resolutions just around the corner, improving health is on the minds of many metro Atlantans. Want to find a one-stop solution for improving your health in multiple ways? Consider changing your commute.

Here are five ways that you can improve your health in 2005, just by changing your commuting habits:

• Let someone else do the driving and reduce your stress levels. Commuting is a significant source of stress for most metro Atlanta residents. According to WebMD, stress has been linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. Find a carpool partner who will share the driving responsibilities, or join a vanpool or ride mass transit to eliminate your driving responsibilities entirely!

• Walk or bike for short trips and improve your overall health. Twenty-five percent of auto trips in the United States are less than one mile in distance. Parking your car and making those short trips on foot or by bicycle can help you get the 30 minutes of daily physical activity that experts recommend for better health. Regular physical activity has been shown to protect against heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and many other chronic diseases.

• Reduce the number of miles you drive and improve air quality. A recent study found that a 10 parts per billion increase in a city's ozone level on a single day was associated with about one-half of one percent increase in death rates within a few days. In the 13-county metro Atlanta region, more than half of the nitrogen oxide emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone formation come from vehicles on the road. Take mass transit, carpool, vanpool or telework and you'll be contributing to cleaner air in the metro region; that's a holiday gift we can all enjoy!

• Telework and get more time to take care of yourself. Ask someone why they don't exercise, and they'll probably tell you that they just don't have the time for it. Our lives are busier than ever, at least partially due to the amount of time we spend traveling to and from work (an average of more than 30 minutes each way in metro Atlanta). By teleworking, you can save more than an hour a day; plenty of time to walk or jog around the block!

• Join a vanpool and expand your social network. Having lots of friends may not immediately sound like a path to better health, but studies have shown that women with heart disease who have large social networks are less likely to die from the condition. Joining a vanpool or a multi-person carpool, can be a great way to make a few new friends! Call 1-87-RIDEFIND to register yourself in the rideshare database and get a list of carpool partners and vanpools that match your commuting needs.

To find out which commute alternative is right for you, visit www.cleanaircampaign.com or call 1-877-CLEANAIR.

The Clean Air Campaign is a not-for-profit organization that offers employers free assistance in the design and implementation of commute options and other smog-reducing programs as part of its role as the region's clearinghouse for solutions to air pollution and traffic congestion. In addition, the organization provides a children's education program, issues Smog Alert notifications and provides financial incentives to promote alternative commuting behavior. For more information about The Clean Air Campaign®, call 1-877-CLEANAIR or visit www.cleanaircampaign.com.