Does Your Neighborhood Affect Your Weight?
April 1, 2003 --The cul-de-sacs and strip malls of today's suburbs may be feeding into the nation's obesity epidemic by promoting a lazier, more car-dependent lifestyle than conventional urban layouts. A new study shows that people who live in traditionally designed urban areas walk about 15 to 30 minutes more per week than those who live in less walkable communities.
Researchers say that difference may seem small, but that extra physical activity translates to an extra energy expenditure of 3,000 to 6,000 calories a year, which could counter the one to two pounds the average American now gains per year.
The study, published in the current issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, suggests that the layout of a neighborhood can play an important role in either encouraging or discouraging a healthy, more active lifestyle among its residents.
Researchers say walking and biking can be done for many purposes, which makes them highly dependent on sidewalks, bike paths, and street design. Unlike other forms of exercise, walking and biking can be done for leisure and recreation as well as for basic transportation, such as running errands and going to work.
"Because large proportions of people live in the sprawling and exclusively residential environments associated with low levels of walking for transport, land use and design may already be having a substantial, although generally undocumented, impact on public health," write researcher Brian E. Saelens, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and his colleagues.
In their study, the researchers reviewed several studies to determine how transportation, land use, and urban design characteristics affected levels of walking and cycling in various areas.
They found traditional neighborhoods that were considered highly walkable and bikeable generally had:
Neighborhoods that scored poorly on this walkability and bikeability scale tended to have the following things in common:
Does Your Neighborhood Affect Your Weight?
Urban layouts may encourage walking and better health
April 1, 2003 --The cul-de-sacs and strip malls of today's suburbs may be feeding into the nation's obesity epidemic by promoting a lazier, more car-dependent lifestyle than conventional urban layouts. A new study shows that people who live in traditionally designed urban areas walk about 15 to 30 minutes more per week than those who live in less walkable communities.
Researchers say that difference may seem small, but that extra physical activity translates to an extra energy expenditure of 3,000 to 6,000 calories a year, which could counter the one to two pounds the average American now gains per year.
The study, published in the current issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, suggests that the layout of a neighborhood can play an important role in either encouraging or discouraging a healthy, more active lifestyle among its residents.
Researchers say walking and biking can be done for many purposes, which makes them highly dependent on sidewalks, bike paths, and street design. Unlike other forms of exercise, walking and biking can be done for leisure and recreation as well as for basic transportation, such as running errands and going to work.
"Because large proportions of people live in the sprawling and exclusively residential environments associated with low levels of walking for transport, land use and design may already be having a substantial, although generally undocumented, impact on public health," write researcher Brian E. Saelens, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and his colleagues.
In their study, the researchers reviewed several studies to determine how transportation, land use, and urban design characteristics affected levels of walking and cycling in various areas.
They found traditional neighborhoods that were considered highly walkable and bikeable generally had:
- High population density.
- A good mix of land uses (a mixture of residential or business properties).
- A highly connective, grid-like street design.
- Continuous sidewalks.
Neighborhoods that scored poorly on this walkability and bikeability scale tended to have the following things in common:
- Fewer residents.
- Barriers to direct travel (cul-de-sacs).
- Purely residential or business land uses.
- A lack of adequate bike or pedestrian facilities (sidewalks, bike lanes or stop signs at intersections).