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.

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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.

• 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).

Overall, researchers found that residents of highly walkable communities reported approximately two times more walking trips per week than residents of communities with low suitability for walking (3.1 vs. 1.4 trips per week). For example, walking to work and walking for errands was much more likely in walkable communities where there were commercial facilities nearby.

They also found that the rate of travel by walking or cycling was about five times higher in the highest density areas vs. the lowest density ones.

Researchers say their findings show that health officials should become more involved in environmental research and policy studies, discussion, and decisions about these factors that have a significant influence on physical activity and health.

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

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