Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is a part of transportation, whether some elected officials like it or not. In this piece from Citiwire, Neal Peirce writes that this fact is becoming increasingly clear.
"A top new argument: obesity. A stunning 34 percent of adult Americans are currently obese, another 32 percent clearly overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Excessive weight now causes more deaths than smoking. If the fat crisis can't be dealt with, rising levels of heart disease and diabetes will assuredly swamp the nation's efforts to reduce spiraling health costs.
What's the answer? Yes, diet. But more physical activity, too. We've allowed autos to carry us everywhere, even walkable distances of less than a mile (and even, in many cases, to the gym)! Our bodies fatten inexorably. One estimate of the country's annual medical bill for physical inactivity: $117 billion."
FULL STORY: Biking and Walking: Our Secret Weapon?
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