Promoting e-cycling to develop physical activity in individuals living with obesity

Given the steadily increasing prevalence of obesity and its numerous biopsychosocial consequences, its management represents a major public health challenge. Although physical activity constitutes a cornerstone of obesity management, its long-term maintenance remains significantly hindered by individual and contextual barriers. This situation highlights the need to identify adapted and sustainable modalities of engagement. In this regards, electric bicycles (e-bikes) represent a promising avenue. Beyond their environmental benefits, as an active mode of transport contributing to reduced car use and associated greenhouse gas emissions, e-bikes may facilitate a gradual, adapted and integrated resumption of physical activity among individuals living with obesity.

Despite this dual potential for human and planetary health, scientific evidence specifically targeting this population remains limited.

PEDALO is a pilot project designed to explore the potential contribution of e-bikes to obesity management. It pursues three main objectives :

1. To assess the acceptability of e-bikes using objective usage indicators.
2. To examine the effects of one month of e-bike use on changes in physical activity levels, functional capacity, mental health, and quality of life.
3. To identify individual, social, and environmental barriers and facilitators influencing engagement.

PEDALO is based on a randomized controlled trial. Participants recruited at the SporMed Center for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation will be randomly assigned to either an immediate intervention group or a one-month delayed intervention group. This design will enable comparisons over a defined period between participants receiving the intervention and those not yet exposed to it, while ensuring that all participants ultimately benefit from access to an e-bike.

The intervention will combine educational sessions, aimed at ensuring safe handling and reducing apprehension, with the provision of an e-bike loaned for one month by the Maison du Vélo de Rennes.

A comprehensive set of assessments will be implemented to capture the overall effects of e-bike use. Pre- and post-intervention evaluations will include functional tests, clinical measures, and validated questionnaires assessing mental health, quality of life, and body image. Continuous monitoring of physical activity will be ensured through accelerometers providing objective measures, complemented by activity diaries and daily ecological momentary assessments via smartphone. Finally, semi-structured individual interviews conducted at the end of the intervention will document participants’ lived experiences and help identify barriers and facilitators to sustained engagement.

In a context marked by the worrying rise in obesity and the urgency of climate change, PEDALO will evaluate an intervention based on the provision of e-bike loans, conceived as a strategy capable of generating co-benefits for both human and planetary health.

By adopting a multidisciplinary and multi-method approach, the project will generate preliminary data to better understand the relevance of e-bikes in obesity management. It will also identify tthe  determinants of engagement in active mobility among individuals who are currently underrepresented in these modes of transport. Identifying these factors will help guide the design of more tailored interventions and promote more inclusive and accessible active mobility.

At the territorial level, the project will represent an initial effort to foster dialogue between local health and mobility stakeholders, brought together around a shared public health objective, with the aim of co-developing actions adapted to population needs and local realities.