This paper examined in a subsample of 18,414 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II the association between bicycle riding and weight control in premenopausal women. Results showed that the longer was the time spent cycling, the lesser was the weight gain, this association being significant and even stronger among women with excess weight. More specifically, for a 30 minutes/day increase in activity between 1989 and 2005, weight gain was significantly less for bicycling (-1.59 kg, 95% CI: -2.09 to -1.08 kg). Moreover, in women who did not cycle in 1989, an increase as small as 5 minutes/day of bicycling in 2005 was associated with less weight gain. The study also found a significant inverse dose-response relationship between increased time spent cycling in 2005 and odds of weight gain (p value for trend, <0.001). Thus, these results suggest that bicycling is associated with reduced weight gain in premenopausal women. The authors therefore encourage the development of bicycle-friendly environments to facilitate the practice of this activity.
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