Health benefits of cycling: a systematic review

Another review - verdict yes.

P. Oja1, S. Titze2, A. Bauman3, B. de Geus4, P. Krenn2, B. Reger-Nash5, T. Kohlberger2

The purpose of this study was to update the evidence on the
health benefits of cycling. A systematic review of the
literature resulted in 16 cycling-specific studies. Cross-
sectional and longitudinal studies showed a clear positive
relationship between cycling and cardiorespiratory fitness in
youths. Prospective observational studies demonstrated a
strong inverse relationship between commuter cycling and
all-cause mortality, cancer mortality, and cancer morbidity
among middle-aged to elderly subjects. Intervention studies
among working-age adults indicated consistent improve-
ments in cardiovascular fitness and some improvements in
cardiovascular risk factors due to commuting cycling. Six
studies showed a consistent positive dose–response gradient between the amount of cycling and the health benefits.
Systematic assessment of the quality of the studies showed
most of them to be of moderate to high quality. According to
standard criteria used primarily for the assessment of
clinical studies, the strength of this evidence was strong
for fitness benefits, moderate for benefits in cardiovascular
risk factors, and inconclusive for all-cause mortality, cor-
onary heart disease morbidity and mortality, cancer risk,
and overweight and obesity. While more intervention re-
search is needed to build a solid knowledge base of the health
benefits of cycling, the existing evidence reinforces the
current efforts to promote cycling as an important contri-
butor for better population health.

 What I find interesting about these Scientific papers is that they frequently balance the advantages of cycling against increased intake of  car pollution. Naturally and elevated cycle would not have these problems, but it is interesting that the problems are worse if you are actually a car driver/ passenger.