Living near coasts makes one more physically active

A new study has found that people who live close to the coasts are likelier to be physical active than the ones who don't.

The research by the team from the University of Exeter Medical School analysed data from over 180,000 participants, collected by Natural England, involved participants from across England and described a particularly noticeable effect on western, but unexpectedly not eastern coasts of the nation.

Examining the amount of exercise people get through leisure activities as well as simply getting around, the study showed that visiting the coast, rather than just living near it, was crucial in stimulating physical activity.

However, when the researchers broke down the national pattern by region they found that this effect was present in the northwest and southwest of the country but not in any of the east coast regions.

The researchers also took into account differences in factors such as age, social status and season, none of which could account for the regional differences in their findings.

Regular exercise can lower the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and depression and plays an important role in keeping people healthy. Current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week. Recent findings had shown that people living near to the coast were healthier than those living inland and the results suggest that higher levels of physical activity could partly explain why.

The study was the largest of its kind and the first to be conducted in a European country. It supports results from smaller-scale studies in Australia and New Zealand.

The study is published in the journal Preventive Medicine.