[sustran] Cities with More Walkers, Bike Commuters are Less Obese

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.governing.com/news/state/gov-biking-walking-cities-obesity-study.html



Cities with More Walkers, Bike Commuters are Less Obese

BY: Mike Maciag <http://www.governing.com/authors/Mike-Maciag.html> | June
14, 2012
    <http://www.governing.com/news/state/gov-biking-walking-cities-obesity-study.html#>



 The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
affirms an alarming trend: we’re fat and not getting any slimmer. An
estimated 35 percent of U.S. adults are obese, and another third still
maintain weights exceeding those deemed healthy. This doesn’t bode well for
governments and individuals paying insurance premiums, especially with the
country’s aging population.

But there are antidotes to the problem, and among the best could be
sidewalks and bike lanes. The infrastructure not only facilitates outdoor
recreation and an alternative to congested roadways, but data shows it
delivers slimmer waistlines in some of the nation’s largest metropolitan
regions.

A *Governing* review<http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-healthy-commuting-habits-study.html>of
census and CDC data finds communities where more residents walk or
bike
to work boast significantly healthier weights. The analysis of 2010
statistics for 126 metropolitan areas finds these communities are strongly
correlated<http://www.governing.com/news/state/gov-biking-walking-cities-obesity-study.html#chart>with
higher numbers of residents who are neither obese nor overweight.

Historically, studies have linked trails, sidewalks and bike lanes with an
increase in walking or cycling. As medical costs continue to rise and
evidence mounts that such infrastructure also improves well-being, more
officials might look to give health consideration greater standing in
transportation planning.

“The more access that people have to these kinds of places, the more likely
they are to be healthy,” said Susan Polan, associate executive director for
public affairs and advocacy with the American Public Health Association.

Metropolitan regions with the healthiest weights are home to high counts of
walkers and bike commuters.

The CDC considers those with sizable weights for their height (body mass
index of 30 or greater) to be obese, and others who are not quite obese,
but exceeding healthy weights, to be “overweight.”

Approximately half of Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo., metro area residents
are neither overweight nor obese. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s
the highest percentage of healthy residents of all metro areas surveyed for
the CDC’s 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual
telephone survey measuring a range of health issues. Accordingly, census
figures indicate 5.3 percent of Fort Collins-Loveland area commuters walk
or bike as their primary form of transportation to work, one of the highest
rates in the country.

Five of the top 10 healthiest metro
areas<http://www.governing.com/news/state/gov-biking-walking-cities-obesity-study.html#cdcdata>in
terms of weight were among the 10 regions with highest percentages of
residents walking or biking to work in the *Governing* analysis. Although
tallies of walkers and bikers are small compared to all commuters, many who
walk or bike to public transit stations aren’t counted in the Census
Bureau’s American Community Survey data, and significantly more exercise
outdoors outside of their daily commutes.

While only a fraction of workers in an area may opt to bike or walk to
work, having the necessary infrastructure in place compels others to use it
more regularly.

Spending hours a day in a car or living a sedentary lifestyle makes it
difficult to shed pounds. Exercising helps, and eating habits, medical
conditions and other factors understandably drive obesity rates as well.

Along with commuting habits, other measures showed statistically
significant relationships with healthy weights in the analysis. Healthier
metro areas<http://www.governing.com/news/state/gov-biking-walking-cities-obesity-study.html#cdcdata>were
most closely correlated with the portion of a region’s population
holding at least a bachelor’s degree. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk,
Conn. metro area, a wealthy region ranking near the top in education
attainment<http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education/educational-attainment-metro-areas-2010-census-acs.html>,
recorded the lowest obesity rate in the CDC's 2010 survey.

Still, the correlation between commuting and residents not considered obese
nor overweight was strong--16 percent greater than the relationship with
median household income.  An area’s average commute time was slightly
correlated with weight, but was not statistically significant.


*Scatter plot of metro areas' walkers/bike commuters correlated with
healthy weights:*



The CDC recommends <http://www.cdc.gov/transportation/recommendation.htm> a
range of infrastructure for communities to rein in obesity. Bike lanes,
shared-use paths and bike racks promote cycling. Urban design with adequate
sidewalks, lighting, street crossings and similar features supports walking
and other physical activity. The agency also suggests localities work to
cut miles driven on roadways.

American Public Health Association's Polan cited public transit projects
and converting old rail lines into trails as two of the more popular
initiatives localities pursue. It’s particularly important, she said, to
encourage kids to walk to school and educate them about pedestrian safety
at a young age.

Last year, Los Angeles County, Calif., earmarked nearly $16 million in
funding for an initiative<http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/docs/RENEWLACounty.pdf>aimed
at curbing obesity, part of which included expanding bike networks
and promoting open spaces.

“There are a lot of smaller initiatives that can engage and energize people
and make them realize what a difference they can make at the local level,”
Polan said.

When cutting expenses, health costs are an easy target. A recent
study<http://www.nber.org/papers/w16467>by two Lehigh University
researchers reported obesity-related costs
accounted for $190 billion annually in U.S. health expenditures, nearly 21
percent of the country’s total bill.

Advocates often push for related projects in transportation planning, but
the amount of weight officials actually give to health concerns varies.
While it may be a major consideration in some communities, others focus
strictly on economic concerns, Polan said.

John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism, said many
American cities have taken steps in recent years to promote walking and
biking.

To improve walkability, connected street grids – with slower speed limits
and no more than two lanes in each direction – are a key component, he
said.

Those looking to move can use the popular
walkscore.com<http://www.walkscore.com/>website to measure how
accessible an apartment or home’s various
neighborhood amenities are on foot. Norquist, whose group advocates
mixed-use and transit-oriented development, cited New York City, San
Francisco, Denver and Albuquerque, N.M., as cities making strides in
developing walkable communities.

Biking has also accelerated, Norquist said, particularly in Seattle and
other older urban environments. “The old downtowns are in great shape for
biking,” he said.

Young people’s attitudes toward biking and public transit have shifted,
with more seeking alternatives to long car rides, Norquist said. Bicycle
manufacturers have joined in the push to remake communities, hiring
lobbyists to pressure Washington and support more bike-friendly
transportation planning policies.

The emphasis on healthy lifestyles in urban design isn’t new, though.
Richard Jackson, a former head of the CDC’s National Center for
Environmental Health who has since become one the movement’s most vocal
proponents, published an article linking built environments to adverse
health effects back in 2001.

Norquist said that the benefits of walking and biking have now become one
of the central themes of urbanists’ arguments for urban revival as
recreation represents an increasingly key aspect of living downtown.

“It’s really going to be a big factor, because people want to be
healthier,” he said. "It's a very personal thing."

*View a summary of the methodology and
results*<http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-healthy-commuting-habits-study.html>


*Data*

The CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System measures obesity and
other health factors. The table below shows 2010 estimates for each
geographic region surveyed, most of which are metro areas. Click
here<http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/BRFSS-SMART/MMSAProjAreas.asp?state=UB&SUBMIT1=+Go+>for
a complete list of communities included in the 2010 survey, along with
specific counties comprising each area.

The following definitions describe the data:

-- *Healthy weight*: Neither overweight nor obese
-- *Overweight*: Body mass index of 25-29.9
-- *Obese*: Body mass index of 30-99.8
-- *No physical activity*: Respondents reporting doing no physical activity
or exercise in the past 30 days