Do Obese-Prone People Choose To Live In the Suburbs?

A new research paper by Stephanie Bernell and Andrew J. Plantinga, two Oregon State University professors, concludes that people "who are already healthy and active are more likely to move into neighborhoods where they can walk to work or to shops than are people who are overweight and inactive.

...The OSU study is controversial with researchers who think health can be substantially shaped by urban planning."

The original study is titled, "A Spatial Economic Analysis of Urban Land Use and Obesity," by researchers Andrew J. Plantinga and Stephanie Bernell. From the study abstract:

"We analyze an urban spatial model to examine the possible link between urban land use and obesity. Households maximize utility defined over housing, weight, and food subject to a fixed time budget allocated to commuting, calorie expenditure, and work. Our model explains the observed correspondence between high obesity rates and low development densities, but implies that these are determined endogenously in a spatial market equilibrium. We study the sorting of residents by attributes such as income, initial weight, and weight preferences, and examine the impacts on weight and density of urban design modifications that lower the costs of calorie expenditure."

[Editor's note: Thanks to Randy Carpenter for pointing out an error in the article summary.]