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Can Developers Help Limit Obesity?

Posted by: Chris Steins
Thanks to: Nation's Building News Newsletter
2 August 2006 - 7:00am

Should new communities can be designed to help encourage children to spend more time outdoors in physical activities?

"Generating some controversy a couple of years ago by suggesting that new housing developments are contributing to the nation’s obesity problem by discouraging walking, Richard Jackson, M.D., made an appearance at last month’s PCBC in San Francisco to tell builders that they can make a difference in improving the health of their residents, especially children.

One in four American children today is obese and at risk of related health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Guide to Community Preventive Services, and Jackson said this problem can be tackled just as lead poisoning was addressed when it was the biggest environmental health threat facing children up through the 1990s.

...More closely related to development, Jackson said that incidental exercise has been removed from the environment, and many children no longer have much opportunity to walk."

Full Story: Builders Can Help End Obesity Trend in Children
Source: Nation's Building News, July 31, 2006
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The increased attention to matters of urban design has forced the field to become alert to more aspects of the social and natural sciences, to transportation and civil engineering, water and waste management, zoning and public policy, and other areas earlier considered largely the responsibility of others.
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