Wellcome Trust PhD Programme for Clinicians at the University of Cambridge (360G-Wellcome-103394_Z_13_Z)

Regular physical activity prevents cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, some cancers, as well as being important for bone health, mental health and well-being. Despite its importance, the proportion of adults who are sufficiently active in the UK remains low. Promoting active travel (walking and cycling) may be one means to shift physical activity levels, and realise large population health benefits. A public health perspective emphasizes the importance of changing the wider built and social environment in order to achieve population shift. The present evidence base is biased towards individual-level interventions. Work that does consider the environment is largely limited to cross-sectional studies which have no ability to demonstrate causation. The effects of travel on physical activity and health are poorly described. This fellowship will use two established natural experimental studies to test longitudinal associations between changes in the environment and changes in: mediators, travel behaviour and physical activity. It will also test the longitudinal association between active travel and indicators of health or well-being, as well as characterising the long-term benefits in population health from a shift to active travel. This will inform the evidence base concerning the promotion of active travel (by environmental change) to improve population health.