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Does Sprawl Make Us Fat?

Posted by kdawson on from the spreading-out dept.

Ant writes "A Science News article talks about the relationship between city design and health. New cross-disciplinary research is exploring whether urban sprawl makes us soft, or whether people who don't like to exercise move to the sprawling suburbs, or some combination of both." From the article: "So far, the dozen strong studies that have probed the relationships among the urban environment, people's activity, and obesity have all agreed, says Ewing. 'Sprawling places have heavier people... There is evidence of an association between the built environment and obesity.' ... However, University of Toronto economist Matthew Turner charges that 'a lot of people out there don't like urban sprawl, and those people are trying to hijack the obesity epidemic to further the smart-growth agenda [and] change how cities look.' ... 'We're the only ones that have tried to distinguish between causation and sorting... and we find that it's sorting,' [says Turner]. 'The available facts do not support the conclusion that sprawling neighborhoods cause weight gain.'"

9 of 659 comments (clear)

  1. Sprawl DOES makes you fatter by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The objections quoted in TFS are debunked quite well in the linked science article. Additionally, research earlier this year shows teenagers living in sprawling suburbs were more than twice as likely to be overweight as teens in more compact urban areas

    These kids have never moved, never had a choice about where they live and are still much fatter.

    It's a no brainer really. Less walking opportunities = less energy expenditure = more stored energy (as well as eating crap on those long, boring car journeys to work/school to save on cooking time at home so you can sit in front of the idiot box).

    Anyway, the failure of town planners is going to work out by itself in the end. As oil prices skyrocket & people in the suburbs grow fatter, the solution become obvious. Liposuction clinics combined with gas stations ;-)

    --
    There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
    1. Re:Sprawl DOES makes you fatter by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know if all the US is like this, but every spawling area that I've been to in the US is insanely pedestrian unfriendly. There are very few crosswalks on major roads, forcing people to dash across, typically to an offramp that has "no pedestrians" signs on it, even though there is no pedestrian access ways nearby. I've never seen a foot bridge over a major road, nor a tunnel. In fact, I've been to parts of the US which don't provide ANY pedestrian access to a mall. I guess they figure that if you don't drive a car then you don't have enough money to shop in their store.

      Compare this to Australia and Europe, where there is as much urban sprawl as the worst parts of the US but every road has a sidewalk, every set of lights has a crosswalk, and foot bridges and tunnels are commonplace. This results in two things: getting in your car to go get milk and bread is considered lazy and, as a result, there's lots of small "corner stores" to get milk and bread almost everywhere people live. Kids walk to school, and/or catch public transport. And seeing as there are lots of people on the streets, street crime is virtually unheard of - it's a lot easier to mug someone if the only people nearby are in cars with their windows rolled up because they're afraid of street crime.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    2. Re:Sprawl DOES makes you fatter by MadAhab · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Very well put. And behind this study is similar reasoning to what you provide; mixed-use communities provide more opportunities to walk someplace.

      On a personal note, I gained a lot of weight after moving to the burbs. Living in NYC and walking up 3 flights of stairs kept me more active. Even in an elevator building, I did a lot of walking around with groceries.

      Unfortunately in America, "sprawl" is a term that has been continuously co-opted, in many parts of America, to mean "let's have large lot sizes to retain our rural character" which of course *creates* sprawl. Other parts of the country, e.g. California, which have huge amounts of building purely residential developments on empty hills, have other problems. Namely, gated-community-type shit, which dictate all houses have to look alike and no commercial development. This demands that you drive a few miles to a strip mall just to buy milk.

      Americans need to rethink development in a very serious way.

      --
      Expanding a vast wasteland since 1996.
    3. Re:Sprawl DOES makes you fatter by JebusIsLord · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I just moved out of the suburbs into a community that is a 30 minute walk from my workplace downtown. I also sold my car (partly so I could afford to live down there). My quality of life has improved tenfold. I have more spending money, more free time after/before work, and I've lost about 10 lbs. walking.

      Life is good.

      --
      Jeremy
    4. Re:Sprawl DOES makes you fatter by joss · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where I come from being a huge lard ass because you
      drive everywhere and never carry anything exposes you
      to far more ridicule than carrying a bag around does.

      --
      http://rareformnewmedia.com/
  2. Yes and no and yes and no by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let me try to sort this out:

    YES, not having to walk around very much will make it more likely you won't get the exercise necessary not to be fat.

    NO, it does not "cause" it (in the sense they want you to take it); you can still make the choice to exercise on your own, irrespective of how much you need to walk in a day for other purposes.

    YES, there's probably a correlation between "how much people in this city have to walk" and "how fat they generally are" that persists after the appropriate controls.

    NO, that's a bad, ad-hoc reason to fix urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is bad because it leads to time-wasting congestion and forces people to have to use cars, which sucks for anyone who can't or doesn't like to drive, and exposes people to the risk of energy price fluctuations unnecessarily. It also contributes to pollution. There, I just made a strong case why sprawl is bad, without resorting to being a health Nazi.

    I'd like to plug my latest joural entry, which describes a way cities could transition gradually to less sprawl, without tedious regulation, government-run services, and invasive control over people's lives. In short: put up tolls heavy enough to clear congestion. This creates the financial incentives necessary for market-driven mass transit, which in turn makes denser development more economical and desirable to live in.

    --
    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  3. Four words to weight loss: by B4RSK · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Losing weight is incredibly simple. The entire topic can be covered in 4 words: Eat less, exercise more.

    Not surprisingly people become ugly fat porkers because they don't follow that simple four word formula.

    (This isn't self-righteous spew -- I need to lose about 20kg to be at my optimal weight. At least I know the only person I have to blame is myself.)

    --
    Some people are like slinkies--basically useless but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.
  4. Does sprawl make us fat? It depends... by Kohath · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does sprawl make us fat?

    I guess it depends on how much sprawl you eat.

    A better question: If part of my body sprawls, am I fat?

  5. I blame zoning laws by mc6809e · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the US, local commerce is rigidly controlled through zoning laws. It would be nice to have a neighborhood store, or set of shops, etc, but most local governments don't allow mixing commercial areas with residential.

    It's simply against the law.

    Land of the free, my ass.