Cycling Tips & Stories Article

A recent study by researchers at the St. Louis University School of Public Health and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services finds that poor community environment is directly linked to obesity in adults. From an article on EurekAlert.org:

According to the report, Missourians who indicated in telephone surveys that they consider their neighborhoods unsafe and unpleasant were one-and-one-half times more likely to be overweight than individuals who said they considered their neighborhoods safe and pleasant. In addition, those who reported not having access to outdoor exercise facilities such as walking or running tracks, basketball or tennis courts, and swimming pools, were more likely to be overweight than those who had access to such facilities.

"We often think of overweight in individuals being caused just by people overeating and not exercising," said Bert Malone, Director of the Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. "But this study shows that some of the overweight problem may be due to the environment in which people live." . . .

"[T]his study suggests that changing communities by making them safer and offering people access to community parks, public recreation facilities, and walking and biking trails may help reduce the prevalence of overweight by promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles," Brownson added.

Meanwhile, a recent study finds that one in four Canadian boys age 13-16 has high blood pressure. The cause? Obesity.

According to an article in Reuters:

The findings warn of an impending epidemic of high blood pressure among adults, lead investigator Dr. Gilles Paradis of McGill University noted [because the proportion of the population with high blood pressure only gets larger as the population gets older] . . .

"Schools, parents, health professionals and policy makers need to understand that the gravity of the obesity epidemic requires urgent and massive prevention efforts targeted at getting kids to become physically active as well as to eat a healthy diet, promoting growth but not excessive calorie intake," sad Paradis in a statement released by the AHA.

And let's not even mention the epidemic of Type II Diabetes among teenagers--one recent study documented a 10-fold increase in such cases in the 1990s, and adds "It is well known that obesity is increasing among American adolescents, and our study points out that this trend may have important health implications."

Of course, very few teenagers will actually suffer from Type II Diabetes. Even the teenage high blood pressure, which affects many more teenagers than does Type II Diabetes, still strikes only a minority. But such diseases are the canaries in the mine--they are the most obvious and alarming symptoms of a culture that promotes "safe" activities like TV-watching over "dangerous" activities like walking and bicycling; a culture that creates communities unpleasant for walking, playing, and other physical activities because it's "too expensive" and "might slow my morning commute by a few seconds."

Related:

News: Transportation Enhancements comes to House vote Thurs, September 4th

News: SAFETEA proposal moves through Congress

News: Poor urban design discourages walking & biking, encourages heavier citizens in KC

Newsletter: Creating Active Environments for Active Lifestyles

News: Rural community health suffers from lack of bicycling & walking facilities