Treating Suburban Sprawl As A Health Issue

Suburbanites are about 35 per cent more likely to be obese than their urban counterparts. Can obesity be solved through economic incentives and disincentives for development?

1 minute read

October 14, 2005, 5:00 AM PDT

By Brenda Meyer


...A think tank ...met last week in Toronto to establish research priorities for tackling the obesity epidemic. The meeting involved more than 100 experts from a wide array of specialties, including medicine, public health, the environment, urban planning, economics, agriculture, the food industry and consumer groups.

While there was broad consensus on the need to address suburban sprawl as a health issue, the expert group was not able to agree on how to deal with the obesity problem through economic incentives and disincentives.

Thursday, October 13, 2005 in The Globe and Mail

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