Brisk walking, biking may help you loose weight

If you are a middle-aged person wishing to shed those extra kilos, you don't need to join a fancy gym or get into a rigid dieting habit, as a new study has claimed brisk walking and bicycling can do the trick.

Although it sounds like any other scientific research on obesity, the Harvard University study is a bit different as it goes against earlier reports which have suggested rigorous exercise to stave off obesity.

The researchers found that walking at least two miles or biking as little as five minuets every day helped women gain less weight than non-bikers, LiveScience reported.

It also found that women who ramped up that biking to four hours a week were far more likely to maintain their weight compared to non-bikers.

The analysis, which tapped into the Nurses'Health Study II following more than 18,000 women for 16 years, has been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The Harvard researchers specifically compared the United States with The Netherlands, where obesity affects only about 8 per cent of the population.

Over a quarter of the Dutch population bikes regularly, usually to work or to school in dedicated biking lanes. In the US, only 05 per cent of commuters use bikes, usually swerving among the landmines of broken glass and opening car doors.

Elsewhere, the common use of bicycles and low rates of obesity throughout Scandinavia and in countries such as Japan and China is no coincidence.

Although not stated in the published report, the Harvard study results have three other significant implications.

Biking and brisk walking are easier on the knees compared with jogging, making this a less painful route to fitness for middle-age and overweight people.

Also, as reported last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, gaining 20 pounds or more after age 50 can triple your risk for diabetes.

There's an upfront cost for a bike, but that quickly could be compensated for from saving on bus fare or gas. Walking is free Diabetes medicine and treatment will run you hundreds to thousands of dollars a year.