"People who commute long distances to work were less fit, weighed more, were less physically active and had higher blood pressure," said Christine M. Hoehner, a public health professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the study's lead author. "All those are strong predictors of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers."What the study clearly doesn't report is that longer commutes are associated with lower wages and lower socio-economic status. It is cheaper to live farther out.
We know that all those negative health syndromes are associated with being poorer and of a lower class. What the study finds is what we already knew: folks of lower class, lower income are less healthy ... sad but true and more to the point, not news, scientific or otherwise.
In other words, if you're less affluent, you commute farther in order to afford decent housing. It is certainly true in CA, probably in many other states too.
