Mixed-Use Development as an Obesity Reduction Tool

An article by Tim Chen notes the growing obesity rates around the world—now a trend in developing countries as well as the developed world—before identifying planning as a potential source of obesity prevention measures. Initiatives to curb obesity are plentiful, but a strategy based in the discipline of city planning merits particular attention, especially in rapidly developing environments where the most impact could be made."

Chen thus examines mixed use development as the organizing idea behind these obesity prevention measures, calling on David Osrin, a professor of Global Health at University College London and Senior Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust, to explain the details.

"The link between obesity and our modes of transport may seem tenuous. But, when there is a mixture of places offering a variety of functions within an accessible distance, rates of active transport increase; countries with the highest levels of active transport also have the lowest obesity rates," writes Chen.