Want some scientific backing for this view, T & K et (one hopes) al?
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-08-29/s_7887.asp Urban sprawl makes Americans fat, study finds Friday, August 29, 2003 By Maggie Fox, Reuters WASHINGTON - You drive to work, you drive your kids to school, you drive to the grocery store.... No wonder you have put on a few pounds. U.S. researchers said Thursday they had quantified the price of living in sprawled-out American communities, and weight gain leads the list - six pounds on average, to be precise. Their findings, published in special issues of the American Journal of Public Health and the American Journal of Health Promotion, are aimed at urban planners, county and city councils, and other groups involved in laying out communities. "We found that U.S. adults living in sprawling counties weigh more, are more likely to be obese, and are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than are their counterparts in compact counties," said Reid Ewing of the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland. He said two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in counties covered in his group's survey. Unlike people in old-fashioned urban centers who can walk to work, shops, and public transport, those in the spread-out communities cannot walk even if they want to because sidewalks and crossings are lacking and homes, schools, and workplaces are far apart. "For some people it is a 'duh' kind of issue, but it doesn't seem to be for a lot of people in important positions," Ewing said. He said the research can be used to persuade policymakers to change zoning, funding, and even lending laws to promote development that will encourage people to walk. "If we go to a city council and say 'allowing this sprawling development ... is maybe going to hurt people's health through obesity,' they are going to say 'prove it,'" Ewing said. Less Expensive, Cleaner, More Pleasant More compact communities are less expensive. Sprawl brings 10 percent greater annual public service deficits and 8 percent higher housing costs, the researchers said. Dense communities also ease pollution and allow for better social interaction, they said. The researchers looked at U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on more than 200,000 people living in 448 U.S. counties in major metropolitan areas. They assessed sprawl in each county using U.S. Census Bureau and other federal data. "The average adult would be expected to weigh about six pounds more living in the most sprawling county in our sample as opposed to an adult the same age living in the most compact county," Ewing said. The study found that people in far-flung communities walk less for leisure, but this factor did not account for all the weight difference. "It may be as a result of the lower level of physical activity they get as part of their daily lives: driving to work, driving to school, driving to lunch, basically driving everywhere," Ewing said. People in such communities may drive for good reasons. Another set of studies found that U.S. pedestrians and cyclists were much more likely to be killed or injured than Dutch and German pedestrians and cyclists. Whether compared on a per-trip basis or by distance traveled, U.S. cyclists were three times more likely to be killed than German cyclists and six times more likely to die than Dutch cyclists, the study found. Source: Reuters > > Biking is even better -- it hardly takes ANY energy to get > > really pretty FAR! Almost as easy as a car.... maybe there's > > an opportunity here :-) -K > >Faster and easier than a car in most cases. Fifteen minutes gets you cross >town almost anywhere, or at least where you're heading in an urban setting. >Park at the door rather than hunting for a space in the back forty of the >parking lot. > >The price of goods could be less due to the reduced overhead from land >purchases for exhorbidantly large parking lots, much less their maintenance. >The pedaling population would be healthier and incur less medical costs, >both independantly and corporately. > >Some aspiring presidential candidate ought to throw it in as a plank of an >Energy Policy. > >Maybe congress could legislate the passing out of little green khaki >uniforms for all those conformists who can't manage to decouple their tubby >butts from the auto seats. Stigmatize the hell out of them and then see how >fast they chang their habits. > >Todd Swearingen > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Ken Provost" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[email protected]> >Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 8:33 PM >Subject: Re: Off their fat asses (was: [biofuel] What a scam!!!) > > > > on 8/30/03 12:59 PM, Appal Energy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > > > > > > Someone mind telling me what all the bitching is about? > > > > > > > > they whine like stuck pigs when the price of fuel goes up > > > a penny a gallon.... > > > > > Almost all of this whining comes from a country swimming in > > > avarice, excess, and gluttonous consumption. > > > > > > Do some people some good....to get off their fat asses and > > > walk to the corner beer market for a change. > > > > > > Todd Swearingen > > > > > > > > Biking is even better -- it hardly takes ANY energy to get > > really pretty FAR! Almost as easy as a car.... maybe there's > > an opportunity here :-) -K ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
