In his article in the March issue of Canadian Family Physician, Dr Bosomworth writes that occupational energy expenditure has dropped by 140 calories per day since the 1960s, and he postulates that this might be a contributing factor to increasing obesity rates.1 But I was disappointed that his otherwise excellent article failed to address a substantial decrease in energy expenditure related to transportation. My guess is that it would average far greater than 140 calories per day, as personal motor transport over the past 5 decades has defaulted to the mode of choice for most Canadians for almost all of their displacement. The medical community should favour all political intervention to make driving less convenient, slower, and more expensive to motivate citizens to consider walking, cycling, using electric bikes, or taking transit, all of which not only constitute more physical activity but also benefit the environment and contribute to safer streets and roads for all users.
Footnotes
Competing interests
None declared
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Reference
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