Obesity Rate Depends On Where
A Person Lives
Popular Fitness Blog
Over the last few years I
have heard about several studies that have concluded that where a
person
lives affects whether or not they are obese, over-weight. People who
live
in suburbs tend to be more obese than people living in cities. By this
I mean the downtown areas of cities or larger towns.
The main reason for this
is that in suburban areas everything is usually too far away to walk.
So
rather than walking people just take the car. Taking public transit is
either inconvenient or would take too long. Many people traveling to
work
usually spend a lot of time in their cars each day so they many not
have
time for exercise. Even if you want to go shopping for groceries, you
need
to take your car. Everything is spread out. Part of the problem is the
way suburban areas are planned out and also the big box stores. Let's
face
it, suburban areas are definitely not planned for healthy and active
living.
Whereas in cities, neighborhoods
were designed to be within walking distance. Stores are smaller,
restaurants
closeer, you have nearby parks, public transportation is convenient...
It doesn't make any sense to get in a car and drive when you could
easily
walk. So you can see that cities were designed more for healthy and
active
living. This is especially true of many older cities which were
designed
before the advent of the car.
My point is that even if
you live in the suburbs, the obesity rate can be decreased if you find
ways to exercise at lease three times a week. Be it going to the gym,
exercising
at home or outdoors. An effort needs to be made to reverse this trend.
Posted on: Thursday February
16, 2006
