We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE AVERAGE COMMUTER adds extra 800 calories to their diets every week as a result of their journey to and from work, a new report has found.
Research from the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) suggests that people who commute for long periods of time are potentially “shortening their lives”.
The median average calorie-intake was 767 kcal, based on self-reporting of additional food consumption by a sample of 1,547 commuters in the UK.
The report links long commutes with increased stress, higher blood pressure and BMI, and reduced time available for health-promoting activities such as cooking, exercising and sleeping.
The average commute in the UK stands at roughly an almost an hour a day, while Celtic Tiger-era commutes are on the way back here, too.
According to the RSPH survey, people who commute in London have an average journey of 79 minutes – compared to just under 45 minutes for people living in Wales.
The report also found:
To combat the health issues associated with long commutes, the RSPH has called for employers to increase flexible and home working.
“Not only does it add to our stress levels, but travelling by bus, car, and train eats into the time we could be using to incorporate physical activity into our daily routine,” said Dr Justin Varney of Public Health England.
Employers can support staff wellbeing by offering facilities which promote cycling and walking to work, such as showers and bike spaces, and taking up opportunities like the Cycle2Work scheme.
“For some of us the daily commute can be a pleasurable experience, giving time for reflection or an opportunity to relax,” Shirley Cramer CBE, the head of the RSPH added.
“But for an increasing number of us it is having a damaging effect on our health and wellbeing.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Heinz ketchup pours quicker from the glass bottle then the plastic one.
Tastes better from the glass one too.
A human head weighs 8 pounds
More importantly, store it in the fridge or the press?
Really I leave mine on the floor next to my chair.
I have a 4 minute walk to work. I literally have no excuse.
A 1 minute drive you mean!
I hate Dublin Bus..
Unbearable some mornings. Especially before the oul caffeine injection.
3 weeks ago i started walking to work. It takes an hour but I’ve already lost a stone in weight
Respect. Well done.
I might ask my boss to give me an extra day off so to make up for them calories.
Are we now paying scientists to tell things we already know???
If people are spending a few hours a day commuting…they have to eat…maybe we should have spin bikes at our desks…there has to be a healthy balance but that’s not always possible if you have a work / family life to balance
Or how about cycling to work?
Yep or you could just spray yerself with shite instead
Eh…? Mudguards?
I cycle 10.3 km to work everyday and 10.3 km home. There are a few steepish gradients. It was exhausting to start with but I’m now managing. I’m losing weight. I burn fat, not oil.
Of course, I’m lucky only to have to travel 10.3 km. I know a person who travels 47 km each way by bike.
The point is that either an ordinary bike or an e-bike can provide an exercise option.,
Be careful up on that pedestal you don’t fall off.
It’s not a pedestal; it’s a Trek.
LOL!!!!
Ha! I’ve just read this article after I ate a doughnut at 7am on my commute to work. Definitely need to ask for more days off work!!
Poor commenting fare today…..
Well we’re not allowed to comment on half the articles.
Alan…thats what i was thinking…..its mostly fluff like this article….no solid traveller, race, political or atrocity story to draw out the islamaphobic, racist, homophobic and xenophobic consumers like yours truly…..
There’ll always be an anti-Catholic or pro-abortion story though.
Three weeks since we had a story about Paul Kelly of Console fame. That was well buried.
Very pertinent….and true…
You could just eat a banana on the train instead of prepacked food just because you commute or travel as part of your job doesn’t excuse a bad diet .
That was the most boring journal day EVER……..prousse k only poked me once….to no avail as usual but thats not the point….
Why is the journal printing a Daily Mail article, use your own research and make it relevant to the Irish way of life
Real cutting edge news from the journal,we know all this without scientists having to tell us,wait though,why don’t we just move everyone beside their work place,now that would b great crack altogether. Some of these so called scientists probably never commuted in their life.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say