It is the fruit of three years of work carried out in collaboration with three metropolises, Lille, Rouen and Montpellier. This Thursday, December 5, Public Health France publishes a study on the benefits of green spaces and healthy transportation such as walking or cycling.
“We know that population exposure to heat, air pollution and transport noise are detrimental to the health of populations, while green spaces and active modes of transport such as walking or cycling, on the contrary , have beneficial effects on health,” introduces the Ministry of Health. organization that points out that “all these elements depend largely on the territorial planning policies implemented by the communities.”
Thus, for Public Health France, acting in green spaces, in means of transport or against air pollution can provide important benefits for everyone’s health. For example, according to the results of the study, “an increase in vegetation in metropolises (…) would reduce annual mortality between 3 and 7%, which represents between 80 and 300 deaths per year depending on the metropolis” .
A roadmap for public authorities?
As for “active mobility,” such as walking and cycling, Public Health France also points to health benefits.
“If each resident increased their walking time by 10 minutes per working day (…), 3.4% of mortality could be avoided each year,” considers Public Health France.
“The benefits related to cycling are greater than those related to walking because cycling generates more physical activity than walking,” continues Mathilde Pascal, head of scientific projects at the Work Environment Health Directorate of Public Health France.
The public health organization also analyzed other parameters such as air pollution, transport noise and heat.
“If we managed to reach the values recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for fine particles, this could represent an increase in mortality of 7 to 12%, that is, from 300 to 1,000 deaths per year, depending on the metropolises. “. Public Health projects France.
Another projection, this time on transport noise pollution: “If we respected the noise levels recommended by the WHO, we could, in each metropolis, significantly improve the sleep of several thousand people a year, which would translate into benefits for the health and well-being. of these people,” notes Public Health France.
“This first study shows the importance of the health benefits of acting on the environmental determinants of health and the need to promote health-friendly urban developments,” concludes Public Health France. For the latter, “this opens perspectives (…) to sensitize communities about the approach of quantitative evaluation of health impacts.”
Source: BFM TV
