Driven to Illness?

By Health Day

Story Created: May 9, 2012 at 7:00 PM CDT

Story Updated: May 10, 2012 at 7:00 AM CDT

A long commute to work may also drive you to poor health!

According to the US Census Bureau, American workers now spend about 25 minutes getting to work, on average. Only about 3? percent walk or ride their bike.

That means a lot of extra time sitting down most days of the week. In the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers measured the health effects of a long commute.

After studying nearly 4,300 workers, they found that people who spent more time on the road had a higher body mass index. They also had a bigger waist and higher blood pressure.

In addition, the lengthy commuters had poorer measurements of their fitness.

Experts are continually finding that sitting down too much can lead to a variety of chronic health problems.

If you have a long commute, making sure that you get plenty of physical activity at other times during the day may be extra important!

I'm Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV, with the news that doctors are reading; health news that matters to you.

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