Tracking the Potential Health Effects of Suburban Living

"A team of researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park and from the University of North Carolina has set up the Montgomery County study to see whether they can pinpoint features in the workplace and at home that get some people moving while turning others into couch potatoes.

...Toward that end, the roughly 80 Montgomery residents who have been recruited have kept detailed diaries of their activities at work and leisure for a week. They also have worn pedometer-like devices that recorded their movements, whether walking, dancing or just fidgeting in a chair.

...Critics of the nation's ever-expanding suburbs have been quick to cite such health studies as another compelling reason to build more compact, pedestrian-oriented communities. Research projects and conferences devoted to improving people's health by changing their "built environment" have become a cottage industry, fueled by a steady stream of grants from foundations and government."