Sprawl Blamed For US Obesity

"Researchers presented more evidence yesterday blaming spread-out suburban development for America's obesity epidemic and for a variety of other public and mental health woes, allowing antisprawl activists to argue that new, compact forms of development would be better for the environment and also healthier for individuals... Suburban culture and monotonous landscapes can also make people depressed, Richard Jackson, director of environmental health at the Centers for Disease Control, told a gathering of planners and architects last night in Washington. Jackson's research was described as ''quantifying the malaise of sprawl,'' and links spread-out development with a parallel epidemic of several ills -- including poor nutrition, diabetes, and environmental illnesses."