Investment propertyIs Sprawl Making Us Fatter? Study Says the Two are Linked
If you live in a sprawling suburban neighborhood, you and your children have a greater chance of weighing more and developing higher blood pressure than
your friends and colleagues who live in the city, according to a recently released national study.
People living in the most sprawling counties tend to weigh six pounds more than people in the most compact counties, and are more likely to be obese. The finding comes from the study, Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity, in which researchers used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data spanning more than 200,000 people in 448 counties across the country.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest U.S. philanthropy devoted to health and health care, supported the study, which is published in the American Journal of Health Promotion and the American Journal of Public Health.
As sprawl increases, the study says, so do the chances that residents will be obese or have high blood pressure.
Why? Researchers say that as families inhabit sprawling neighborhoods, they"re using their vehicles -- instead of walking or biking -- to stores, restaurants, and other destinations.
"Researchers are finding that sprawl and community design have a direct impact on our health," says Michael Greenberg, PhD, associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health and associate dean of the faculty, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University. "These journals present further evidence that we need to strengthen the linkages between planning, design and public health."
Other findings include:
A look at six North Carolina counties revealed that people with access to trails and places to exercise were more likely to engage in recommended levels of physical activity.
Transportation planners tend to overlook the negative health impacts of more vehicle use.
Measures are needed to ensure walking and cycling in American cities is safer. Researchers found U.S. pedestrians and cyclists are more likely to be
killed or injured than their counterparts in The Netherlands and Germany.
The Sacramento Bee, in an Aug. 29 article, detailed how a new neighborhood several miles north of downtown Sacramento, Calif., poses challenges for
pedestrians, particularly children trying to get to school just a couple blocks away.
To reach Bannon Creek Elementary School on foot, the students would have to cross four lanes of traffic traveling at least 40 miles an hour, said local parent and activist Ted Link-Oberstar. There is no stoplight for the crosswalk.
Link-Oberstar said the Natomas Unified School District uses buses to ferry the children to school.
"The district says the major thoroughfares are not safe for students to cross, and we would agree," he told the Bee.
Can situations like this be changed?
"The zoning laws in most places make it either illegal or very difficult to build a smart community," said Joel Hirshhorn, director of natural resources policy studies at the National Governors Association, a Washington-based group that represents the nation"s 50 governors, in a June 6 Knight Ridders Newspapers article.
Some developers, however, are taking a stab at pedestrian-friendly communities.
Southern Village in Chapel Hill, N.C., broke ground seven years ago and is designed to appeal to affluent homebuyers who want a small-town feel with all of the amenities of a modern downtown, the Knight Ridders Newspaper reports. But it comes at a cost -- about 10 percent to 15 percent more to build than a "conventional" development to cover extra streets, trees, sidewalks and alleyways, according to Jim Earnhardt, vice president of Bryan Properties, a Southern Village developer.
Of its 312 acres, 90 are used for common space. Townhouses, condominiums and single-family homes aren"t the typical cookie cutter style, sizes and shapes are mixed and homes are set close to the streets. Most houses are graced with front porches to encourage conversation among neighbors.
Streets have sidewalks, and are laid out in a grid pattern to encourage residents to walk to their destinations, which could include the community"s "corner store" or movie theater. Parks and bike trails are peppered throughout the community, and kids can walk to school.
"I find myself walking to the movies, the grocery, the dry cleaners," resident Brenda McAdams Motsinger, who also heads the health promotion branch of North Carolina"s Health and Human Services Department, told Knight Ridder. "As the development matures and more businesses move in, "it"s going to be much more enjoyable."