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National
Mixed-Use Neighborhoods Decrease Risk of Obesity
Confirming last year's study by University of Maryland's National Center for Smart Growth researcher Reid Ewing, who found higher obesity rates in counties with sprawling rather than compact development, a new Georgia Institute of Technology in-depth study of links between weight and the built environment in metro Atlanta, led by University of British Columbia Associate Professor Lawrence D. Frank, shows the relative risk of obesity increases 35 percent from the most to the least mixed-use areas.
''Density and street connectivity also matter, but mixed use is the most important factor relating to physical activity and obesity,'' said Professor Frank. ''People need destinations to walk to,'' he added, his study showing that each hour in the car increases the likelihood of obesity by six percent and each half-mile walk a day reduces it by almost five percent.
Released before a conference on obesity in Williamsburg, Virginia, and publication in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, reports Washington Post writer Rob Stein, the study of 10,898 people in metro Atlanta neighborhoods -- divided into four development categories, typical nationwide -- found that more than 90 percent of them did not walk at all and the average car-time was more than one hour a day, but also that an average 5'10'' white male was about 10 pounds heavier in the most residential than in the most diversified neighborhoods. The proportions of obese residents in these types of neighborhoods were about 20 and 15 percent, respectively, regardless of age, income and education.
Skeptics, like Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions president Samuel R. Staley of Columbus, Ohio, think maybe less physically active people simply prefer sprawling neighborhoods, while the more active like compact ones. In a free society, he said, ''People should have the choice to live somewhere where they can be fat.''
Professor Frank noted that food and calorie intake ''also plays an important role'' in obesity rates, especially with the prevalence of fast-food outlets in some areas, and easier access to healthier grocery stores and better restaurants in the others. Nevertheless, the writer adds, the researchers calculated that tripling the number of shops and other businesses near homes could reduce the rate of obesity to what it would be if the population were five years younger, as age is the main factor in weight gain. -- Washington Post
5/31/2004
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