Your Commute May Be the Cause of Your Pain

By Bill Doyle

New Jerseyans love to complain about their commutes, but the truth is, it could be the cause of physical pain.

A Gallup Poll in 2010 found that one in three drivers who had a commute of 90 minutes or longer experienced neck or back pain, compared to one in four without the commute.

From Gallup.com,

Those who do report long commutes are more likely to complain of several health problems. For example, one in three employees with a commute of more than 90 minutes say they have had a neck or back condition that has caused recurrent pain in the past 12 months; among those with commutes of 10 minutes or less, the figure drops to roughly one in four. Those with long commutes are also more likely to say they have at some point been diagnosed with high cholesterol and are more likely to have a Body Mass Index that classifies them as obese.

Research also shows that people with commutes longer than 20 minutes are more likely to be obese and more likely to get less than the recommended amount of exercise per week. And, finally, a study in Sweden showed that having a longer commute made a person 40% more likely to get divorced.

How long is your commute? Let us know in the comment section below.