Urban Sprawl Makes Americans Fat, Study Finds

[Fausto]

There's a shocker for ya.

"We found that U.S. adults living in sprawling counties weigh more, are more likely to be obese and are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than are their counterparts in compact counties," Reid Ewing of the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland told reporters.

He said two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in counties covered in his group's survey.

Unlike people in old-fashioned urban centers who can walk to work, shops, and public transport, those in the spread-out communities cannot walk even if they wanted to because sidewalks and crossings are lacking and homes, schools and workplaces are far apart.

"For some people it is a 'duh' kind of issue, but it doesn't seem to be for a lot of people in important positions," Ewing said.

Let me be the first to say....."DUH!". 😛

 

[T3C]

suprise suprise

 

[StageLeft]

That and a lack of respect for one's own body. Tony Little is right when he says that your body is the most important thing you'll ever own. Why such a vast amount of the population consistently ignorse this fact and mistreats their body is really quite mind boggling. It's about the only object you're not being shallow and material when you excercise (pun) upkeep on it.

U.S. researchers said on Thursday they had quantified the price of living in sprawled-out American communities and weight gain leads the list -- six pounds on average, to be precise.

6 pounds isn't gonna make much difference to most people!

 

[yellowperil]

Urban Sprawl Makes Americans Fat

Odd, I thought it was McDonald's fault.

 

[conjur]

That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

Cool. Can I be your Minister of Spandex? 😀

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

Cool. Can I be your Minister of Spandex? 😀

You can be whatever you want as long as you provide the proper "favors"! 😛

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

Cool. Can I be your Minister of Spandex? 😀

You can be whatever you want as long as you provide the proper "favors"! 😛

Sir! Deploying kneepads immediately SIR!

😛


EDIT- I hijacked my own thread...doh!

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

Cool. Can I be your Minister of Spandex? 😀

You can be whatever you want as long as you provide the proper "favors"! 😛

Sir! Deploying kneepads immediately SIR!

😛

:Q

😀

That was quick. You must really want this job.

Ok...here's your key to the Spandex vault.

But, one forewarning! If I see *one* grossly overweight person in Spandex, you, sir, will be drawn and quartered!!

 

[UNCjigga]

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

CLEAN HOUSE!! CLEAN HOUSE!! CLEAN HOUSE!!

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

Okay, serious answer this time.

I know you're half-kidding, but this really is a huge part of the problem. My current home town of Atlanta is a perfect example; everything is so freaking spread out that you really can't walk anywhere. The driving is a double-whammy as well....not only are you not exercising at all when in the car, but you're eating up time that you could use for healthier activities. Atlanta had a choice years ago when it became clear that we were going to become a huge city; start work on public transportation and managed growth or just pave everything and hope for the best. They went for option 2 and are now scrambling (unsuccessfully, for the most part) to fix the mess. :disgust:

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: conjur
That's why I'm thinking of running for public office. I'm going to force the county to create a new position:

President of Land Development and Transportation.

I'd set more than a few things straight around here!


😀

Cool. Can I be your Minister of Spandex? 😀

You can be whatever you want as long as you provide the proper "favors"! 😛

Sir! Deploying kneepads immediately SIR!

😛

:Q

😀

That was quick. You must really want this job.

Ok...here's your key to the Spandex vault.

But, one forewarning! If I see *one* grossly overweight person in Spandex, you, sir, will be drawn and quartered!!

Oh yeah. All Spandex will be issued with a "Load Limit" certification. Exceed that limit and face and immediate beatdown. 😛

 

[Zenmervolt]

The problem isn't sprawl, it's the people who choose not to make an effort to just get up and do something. People just want to sit in front of computer and post on an internet forum or something.

*looks at own postcount*

D'Oh.

Seriously though people just don't do enough.

ZV

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
The problem isn't sprawl, it's the people who choose not to make an effort to just get up and do something. People just want to sit in front of computer and post on an internet forum or something.

*looks at own postcount*

D'Oh.

Seriously though people just don't do enough.

ZV

Make that "most people".....healthy folks are officially a minority these days according to the chart in the linked article.

That's just pathetic. :frown:

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
The problem isn't sprawl, it's the people who choose not to make an effort to just get up and do something. People just want to sit in front of computer and post on an internet forum or something.

*looks at own postcount*

D'Oh.

Seriously though people just don't do enough.

ZV

Make that "most people".....healthy folks are officially a minority these days according to the chart in the linked article.

That's just pathetic. :frown:

Yeah, I meant most people. Whoops.

ZV

 

[StageLeft]

Eat up!

 

[Amused]

It's too simplistic. I would agree that it is one part of the equation, but it's not the entire reason. A general lack of activity period is the cause of obesity today. And urban sprawl started in the fifties, yet our epidemic with obesity got it's legs in the mid to late eighties and exploded in the ninties.

While not being able to walk anywhere can add a few pounds, the lack of recreational exercise is what really is making people fat. The explosion in obesity seen in the ninties correlates perfectly with wide spread popularity of home video games, the internet and 100+ channels of cable/sat TV.

When I was growing up, you couldn't keep kids in the house after school. Now you can't get them out.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Amused
It's too simplistic. I would agree that it is one part of the equation, but it's not the entire reason. A general lack of activity period is the cause of obesity today. And urban sprawl started in the fifties, yet our epidemic with obesity got it's legs in the mid to late eighties and exploded in the ninties.

While not being able to walk anywhere can add a few pounds, the lack of recreational exercise is what really is making people fat. The explosion in obesity seen in the ninties correlates perfectly with wide spread popularity of home video games, the internet and 100+ channels of cable/sat TV.

When I was growing up, you couldn't keep kids in the house after school. Now you can't get them out.

That's why I'm going to seriously ration the tv/video game time of my kids. I spent far too much time in front of a screen when I was young. It's not healthy and it doesn't make a person a better person.

 

[Fausto]

Yeah, I guess you could look at sprawl as almost more of a catalyst than the actual cause. It was just waiting for the right components to be tossed in before this whole obesity pandemic took off.

It's funny, when I was growing up there were the one or two "fat kids" that everyone ripped on whereas now they're basically the norm. 😕

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Amused
It's too simplistic. I would agree that it is one part of the equation, but it's not the entire reason. A general lack of activity period is the cause of obesity today. And urban sprawl started in the fifties, yet our epidemic with obesity got it's legs in the mid to late eighties and exploded in the ninties.

While not being able to walk anywhere can add a few pounds, the lack of recreational exercise is what really is making people fat. The explosion in obesity seen in the ninties correlates perfectly with wide spread popularity of home video games, the internet and 100+ channels of cable/sat TV.

When I was growing up, you couldn't keep kids in the house after school. Now you can't get them out.

That's why I'm going to seriously ration the tv/video game time of my kids. I spent far too much time in front of a screen when I was young. It's not healthy and it doesn't make a person a better person.

I'm not planning to be a total nazi with my kids to that end. I'm hoping that my high activity levels and eating habits will rub off on them so I won't have to hide the TV remote.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Amused
It's too simplistic. I would agree that it is one part of the equation, but it's not the entire reason. A general lack of activity period is the cause of obesity today. And urban sprawl started in the fifties, yet our epidemic with obesity got it's legs in the mid to late eighties and exploded in the ninties.

While not being able to walk anywhere can add a few pounds, the lack of recreational exercise is what really is making people fat. The explosion in obesity seen in the ninties correlates perfectly with wide spread popularity of home video games, the internet and 100+ channels of cable/sat TV.

When I was growing up, you couldn't keep kids in the house after school. Now you can't get them out.

That's why I'm going to seriously ration the tv/video game time of my kids. I spent far too much time in front of a screen when I was young. It's not healthy and it doesn't make a person a better person.

I'm not planning to be a total nazi with my kids to that end. I'm hoping that my high activity levels and eating habits will rub off on them so I won't have to hide the TV remote.

Very possible. Hopefully that will work, and it probably will. Kids copy activity and eating habits greatly from their parents. And if that doesn't work I'm gonna leash them to a tree in the backyard every evening for 2 hours 😀

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Amused
It's too simplistic. I would agree that it is one part of the equation, but it's not the entire reason. A general lack of activity period is the cause of obesity today. And urban sprawl started in the fifties, yet our epidemic with obesity got it's legs in the mid to late eighties and exploded in the ninties.

While not being able to walk anywhere can add a few pounds, the lack of recreational exercise is what really is making people fat. The explosion in obesity seen in the ninties correlates perfectly with wide spread popularity of home video games, the internet and 100+ channels of cable/sat TV.

When I was growing up, you couldn't keep kids in the house after school. Now you can't get them out.

That's why I'm going to seriously ration the tv/video game time of my kids. I spent far too much time in front of a screen when I was young. It's not healthy and it doesn't make a person a better person.

I'm not planning to be a total nazi with my kids to that end. I'm hoping that my high activity levels and eating habits will rub off on them so I won't have to hide the TV remote.

Very possible. Hopefully that will work, and it probably will. Kids copy activity and eating habits greatly from their parents. And if that doesn't work I'm gonna leash them to a tree in the backyard every evening for 2 hours 😀

Make sure you have a high fence in the back yard then. Otherwise the neighbors will call child services. If the neighbors can somehow manage to get out of their chairs and lumber over to the phone. 😛

ZV

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Amused
It's too simplistic. I would agree that it is one part of the equation, but it's not the entire reason. A general lack of activity period is the cause of obesity today. And urban sprawl started in the fifties, yet our epidemic with obesity got it's legs in the mid to late eighties and exploded in the ninties.

While not being able to walk anywhere can add a few pounds, the lack of recreational exercise is what really is making people fat. The explosion in obesity seen in the ninties correlates perfectly with wide spread popularity of home video games, the internet and 100+ channels of cable/sat TV.

When I was growing up, you couldn't keep kids in the house after school. Now you can't get them out.

That's why I'm going to seriously ration the tv/video game time of my kids. I spent far too much time in front of a screen when I was young. It's not healthy and it doesn't make a person a better person.

I'm not planning to be a total nazi with my kids to that end. I'm hoping that my high activity levels and eating habits will rub off on them so I won't have to hide the TV remote.

Very possible. Hopefully that will work, and it probably will. Kids copy activity and eating habits greatly from their parents. And if that doesn't work I'm gonna leash them to a tree in the backyard every evening for 2 hours 😀

Kids are more likely to emulate other kids in this regard.

My brother has this down. His rules:

The only video games are in the Yukon XL (with each passanger having a 16x9 vid screen at his seat... it's a cool system with X-box, PS2 and 2 DVD players and each passenger can choose what input he wants to watch/play)
The internet is for research and E-mail, not for socializing. No chat or IM programs are allowed on the kid's laptops.
The kids are only allowed to watch what he has programed into the Replay, and only during certain hours of the day.
The kids MUST play in school sports. Both play football and baseball.

His second child is a vid game freak. Give him a video game, and he'll play it for weeks straight until he has perfected it. It's actually scary to see.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Fausto1
Yeah, I guess you could look at sprawl as almost more of a catalyst than the actual cause. It was just waiting for the right components to be tossed in before this whole obesity pandemic took off.

It's funny, when I was growing up there were the one or two "fat kids" that everyone ripped on whereas now they're basically the norm. 😕

Kids these days sit behind their computers instead of going out and playing ball.

 

[StageLeft]

Don't worry about the neighrbors. I'll pay them off with free lawn mowings from my kids 🙂