BEIJING, June 30 — Bicycling for as little as five minutes a day can help women control their weight in their 30s and 40s, a new study suggests Wednesday.

The study, published in the June 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, followed more than 18,000 women between the ages of 25 and 42 for 16 years.

The study found the women who increased physical activities like brisk walking and bicycling by 30 minutes a day during the 16-year period maintained their weight and even lost a few pounds, but those whose exercise was slow walking did not lose any weight.

According to the study, women who started biking for just five minutes a day gained about 1.5 fewer pounds over the course of the study than similar women who didn’t take up biking.

“This is not suggesting that if you bicycle for five minutes you will immediately go back to the weight you were when you were 18,” said Anne C. Lusk, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and an author of the paper.

But Lusk pointed out biking and walking are easier than many other forms of exercise to incorporate into everyday life.

“It’s highly suggestive that bicycling is highly beneficial in women,” Lusk added. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2010-06/30/c_13376845.htm